• Yoav Bolkier, Yael Nevo-Caspi, Yishay Salem, Amir Vardi, David Mishali, and Gideon Paret.
• 1Department of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Safra Children's Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel. 2Department of Pediatrics, Sackler Medical School, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
• Pediatr Crit Care Me. 2016 Apr 1; 17 (4): e193-7.

ObjectivesTo test the hypothesis that cardiac-enriched micro-RNAs can serve as accurate biomarkers that reflect myocardial injury and to predict the postoperative course following pediatric cardiac surgery. Micro-RNAs have emerged as plasma biomarkers for many pathologic states. We aimed to quantify preoperative and postoperative plasma levels of cardiac-enriched micro-RNA-208a, -208b, and -499 in children undergoing cardiac surgery and to evaluate correlations between their levels, the extent of myocardial damage, and the postoperative clinical course.DesignPICU.PatientsThirty pediatric patients that underwent open heart surgery for the correction of congenital heart defects between January 2012 to July 2013.InterventionsNone.Measurements And Main ResultsAt 12 hours post surgery, the plasma levels of the micro-RNAs increased by 300- to 4,000-fold. At 24 hours, their levels decreased but remained significantly higher than before surgery. Micro-RNA levels were associated with troponin levels, longer cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic crossclamp times, maximal postoperative aspartate aminotransferase levels, and delayed hospital discharge.ConclusionsCirculating micro-RNA-208a, -208b, and -499 are detectable in the plasma of children undergoing cardiac surgery and may serve as novel biomarkers for monitoring and forecasting postoperative myocardial injury and recovery.

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