Incidence and Predictors of Postoperative Need for High-Dose Inotropic Support in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery for Infective Endocarditis

Objective Patients with infective endocarditis undergoing cardiac surgery are a high-risk population. Few data on incidence and predictors of need for high-dose inotropic support in this setting are currently available. Design Retrospective study. Setting Tertiary-care hospital. Participants Ninety consecutive patients undergoing cardiac surgery for infective endocarditis. Interventions None. Measurements and Main Results Baseline, intraoperative and outcome data were collected. Stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify preoperative predictors of postoperative hemodynamic support. High-dose postoperative inotropic support was defined as inotropic score >10 (calculated as dobutamine dose (in µg/kg/min) + dopamine dose (in µg/kg/min) + (epinephrine dose [in µg/kg/min] × 100) + (norepinephrine dose [in µg/kg/min] × 100) + (milrinone dose [in µg/kg/min] × 10) + (vasopressin dose [in U/kg/min] × 10 000) + (levosimendan dose [in µg/kg/min] × 50) or need for mechanical circulatory support at intensive care unit admission. Postoperative high-dose inotropic or mechanical circulatory support was required in 57 cases (61%). Stepwise multiple logistic regression identified 5 variables independently associated with need for postoperative circulatory support: male sex (odds ratio [OR] = 10.9), surgery duration (OR for every minute increase = 1.01), impairment of kidney function (eGFR 2 – OR = 19), preoperative new-onset heart failure (defined by clinical, imaging and laboratory parameters – OR = 5.30), and low preoperative platelet count (for every 1×10 3 /μl increase – OR = 0.99). Conclusions Patients undergoing cardiac surgery for infective endocarditis are at high risk for postoperative hemodynamic instability. Preoperative organ failure is an important determinant for postoperative hemodynamic instability.