BIOMARKERS FOR PREDICTING POSTOPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS FOLLOWING CARDIAC SURGERY

Postoperative complications (PC) remain a serious con­cern in cardiac surgery, having an impact on patient outcomes and healthcare costs. Traditional risk models (EuroSCORE II, STS) may not predict individual risk with sufficient accuracy, which has led to an increa­sing focus on biomarkers. This literature review reveals that certain markers can improve the early detection of PC: neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and soluble suppression of tumorigenicity-2 (sST2), linked to myo­cardial dysfunction, are significant for low cardiac out­put syndrome (LCOS) prognosis; In acute kidney injury (AKI), cystatin C (CyC), and galectin-3 (Gal-3) outper­form creatinine in sensitivity. These biomarkers may complement risk models and facilitate personalised care, however, their practical application necessitates further large-scale research and the establishment of clinically validated cut-offs.