• A Koster, J Börgermann, A Zittermann, J U Lueth, T Gillis-Januszewski, and U Schirmer.
• Institute for Anaesthesiology, Heart and Diabetes Centre North Rhine-Westphalia, Ruhr-University Bochum, Georgstr. 11, D-32545 Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. akoster@hdz-nrw.de
• Br J Anaesth. 2013 Jan 1;110(1):34-40.

BackgroundConvulsive seizures (CS) occur in ∼1% of the patients after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. Recent investigations indicate an up to seven-fold increase in CS in cardiac surgical patients receiving high doses (≥60 mg kg(-1) body weight) of tranexamic acid (TA).MethodsIn a retrospective data analysis of 4883 cardiac surgical patients, we investigated the incidence of CS in patients receiving a moderate dose of TA (24 mg kg(-1) body weight) compared with a reference group not receiving TA as a primary endpoint. Secondary endpoints were intensive care unit stay and in-hospital mortality. We performed propensity score (PS)-adjusted logistic regression analysis to test the association between TA use/non-use and clinical outcomes.ResultsCompared with the reference group, the PS-adjusted odds ratio (OR) for CS in the TA group was 1.703 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01-2.87; P=0.045; incidence 2.5% vs 1.2%]. Log-ICU-stay was significantly longer (P=0.004) and PS-adjusted relative in-hospital mortality risk was significantly higher for the TA group compared with the reference group (OR=1.89; 95% CI: 1.21-2.96; P=0.005). Both the TA-associated CS incidence and the in-hospital mortality risk were only significant in patients undergoing open-heart surgery (OR=2.034, 95% CI: 1.07-3.87; P=0.034 and OR=2.20, 95% CI: 1.32-3.69; P=0.003, respectively) but not in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (OR=1.21, 95% CI: 0.49-3.03; P=0.678 and OR=1.13, 95% CI: 0.42-3.02; P=0.809, respectively).ConclusionsIn open-heart surgery, even moderate TA doses are associated with a doubled rate of CS and in-hospital mortality. Prospective trials are needed to further evaluate the safety profile of TA in cardiac surgery.

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