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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Journal of Cardiac Critical Care TSS 2020; 4(02): 111-115
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1715931
Review Article

High Transaminases Following Cardiac Surgery: A Narrative Review

Amr S. Omar
1  Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery/Cardiac Anesthesia and ICU, Heart Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
2  Department of Critical Care Medicine, Beni Suef University, Beni Suef, Egypt
3  Department of Clinical Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, Qatar
,
Adel Taha
4  Department of Critical Care Medicine, King Khaled Specialized Hospital, Dammam, KSA
,
Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi
1  Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery/Cardiac Anesthesia and ICU, Heart Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
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Abstract

Elevation of liver enzymes after cardiac surgery is encountered infrequently. Acute heart failure during and after surgery may be the culprit responsible for liver dysfunction. However, it may create clinical confusion whether acute liver dysfunction could induce some sort of cardiac dysfunction through mechanisms similar to those encountered in chronic liver disease. We searched through the Medline, Cochrane, and Embase databases up to January 2018. We included review articles, meta-analyses, and original trials on the elevation of liver enzymes after cardiac surgery, and combined the following MESH terms: “intensive care, “cardiac surgery,” “high liver enzymes,” “ischemia,” “left ventricular dysfunction,” and “critical illness.” Case reports were excluded. Language restrictions were not applied. References were examined for other potentially useful articles. We did not find any articles that supported the cardiac decompensation phenomenon after acute liver injury. In contrast, low-hepatic flow, hypoxemia, or pump-induced inflammation could induce hepatic dysfunction in acute settings after cardiac surgery. In conclusion, a rise in the transaminases following cardiac surgery would favor an ischemic etiology for the condition.

Keywords

transaminases - cardiac surgery - cardiac function - high liver enzymes


Publication History

Publication Date:
10 September 2020 (online)

© 2020. Official Publication of The Simulation Society (TSS), accredited by International Society of Cardiovascular Ultrasound ISCU. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)

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