S-100 levels after aortic surgery with deep hypothermic arrest correlate with the duration of circulatory arrest, indicating that the duration of circulatory arrest is damaging to the brain despite the use of deep hypothermia and partial retrograde cerebral perfusion. The highest correlation between S-100 and duration of arrest was seen on the first postoperative day. S-100 appears to perform well under clinical circumstances as a sensitive and discriminative marker for neuronal injury.

No abstract

Granulocytes play an important role in the host defense against invading microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi (1,2). For the killing reaction, these cells have an extensive machinery of cytotoxic effector mechanisms including phagocytosis, production of toxic oxygen metabolites, initiated by a membrane bound nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)oxidase, and degranulation of cytotoxic proteins (for reviews see 1,2). Apart from being cytotoxic, these cells are also involved in maintaining inflammatory reactions by the release of cytokines and bioactive lipids such as platelet-activating factor and arachidonic acid metabolites. Uncontrolled activation of neutrophils plays an important role in the pathogenesis of diseases like acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and septic shock. Syndromes associated with granulocyte dysfunctions can cause severe clinical conditions (1,2).