title: Pexelizumab and survival in cardiac surgery.
abstract: A recent international consensus conference on the reduction in mortality in cardiac anesthesia and intensive care included pexelizumab, a recombinant monoclonal antibody to the component 5 of the complement system, among the ancillary (i.e. non-surgical) drugs/techniques/strategies that might influence survival rates in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. The consensus conferences state that "A subgroup analysis of a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials suggested that pexelizumab might reduce mortality (longest follow up available, up to 6 months) in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting. Pexelizumab was not included among the most important topics of the consensus conference as it was the only topic that did not receive a sufficient percentage of votes from the audience (32% at the first round and 35% at the second round). Pexelizumab is no longer on the market, however, the concept of reducing the generalized inflammatory process accompanying cardiopulmonary bypass deserves further investigation.
authors: Deptartment of Interventional Cardiology, Istituto Clinico S. Ambrogio, Milan, Italy.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Testa
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Meco
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Cirri
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Bedogni
keywords: CABG surgery; complement system; inflammation; mortality