Vasoplegia After Cardiac Surgery Is Associated With Endothelial Glycocalyx Alterations

{Objective: To assess endothelial glycocalyx (EG) alteration in vasoplegic syndrome after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. Design: Prospective analysis Setting: Single university hospitals. Participants: Patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass. Interventions: Observational study Methods: Heparan sulfate and syndecan-1 levels were assessed in plasma before surgery, on intensive care unit admission, and on the first postoperative day. The primary outcome was comparisons of heparan sulfate and syndecan-1 levels in patients with and without vasoplegic syndrome. Results: A total of 46 patients were analyzed. Only syndecan-1 was modified by cardiac surgery (p < 0.05). Plasma syndecan-1 levels were lower in patients with vasoplegic syndrome at the 3 time-points and were associated with the cumulative norepinephrine dose. Baseline plasma syndecan-1 predicted the development of vasoplegic syndrome with an area under the curve of 0.7 (confidence interval 95%: 0.51-0.85