ELEVATION OF PROSTATE-SPECIFIC ANTIGEN IN CARDIAC-SURGERY WITH EXTRACORPOREAL CARDIOPULMONARY CIRCULATION

Purpose: We evaluated the correlation of prostate specific antigen (PS A) and cardiac surgery in a group of patients with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia operated on with or without extracorporeal cardi opulmonary circulation. Materials and Methods: A total of 30 men 54 to 72 years old (mean age 62 years) undergoing cardiac surgery had PSA m easured preoperatively and postoperatively. To provide the baseline PS A value a first serum sample was obtained before surgery, and PSA meas urements were repeated 12 hours and 7 days postoperatively. Cardiac su rgery was performed with extracorporeal cardiopulmonary circulation in 20 cases and without cardiopulmonary bypass in 10, constituted the co ntrol group. An 18F Foley catheter was left indwelling for the first 2 4 hours in both groups. Results: In the study group there was a signif icant increase in PSA postoperatively (p = 0.01). However, in the cont rol group the PSA was not statistically different before or after surg ery (p = 0.16). These results indicate that there was a physiological relationship between the extracorporeal cardiopulmonary circulation an d PSA. Conclusions: Although the etiology of this elevation is unknown , based on our data we conclude that extracorporeal cardiopulmonary ci rculation can cause an alteration in serum PSA unrelated to cardiac op eration without extracorporeal bypass.