Protein S100Β: a potential biomarker that correlates with clinical neurological variables in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease?

Objectives:S100? protein has been proposed as a brain injury biomarker in several clinical scenarios. We aimed to determine whether a correlation exists between S100? serum levels and clinical variables at the pre-operative period of paediatric patients with congenital heartdisease. Methods:A prospective case-control study was designed including paediatric patients from one month to with congenital heart disease admitted for surgical treatment during a 3-month period. We studied 44 patients at the pre-operative period and divided them in two groups: 20 with clinical neurological variables and 24 without them. Clinical paediatric neurological variables were obtained, and serum levels of S100? protein were measured using the ELISA “sandwich”technique. Results:The cut-off for S100? serum level in patients with clinicalneurological variables was 16pg/ml, with sensibility and specificity values of 70% and 70.8%, respectively. S100? protein levels greater than 16pg/ ml correlated with clinical neurological variables (p=0.014, OR=2.556, and 95% CI=1.205 -5.418) Neurological clinical variables before operation may modify operative resilience and the risk of neurological complications.