title: Pre- and post-operative values of serum CRP in patients undergoing surgery for brain tumour.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the concentration of C-reactive protein in pre- and post-operative serum samples of brain tumour patients in order to detect the potential risks of post-operative infections.
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum C-reactive protein was measured on pre- and post-operative Day 1, Day 2 and Day 7 in 18 patients who underwent surgery for brain tumours. The study was performed at the Neurosurgical Ward, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, from May 2007 to April 2008. Mean pre-operative patients and control values were compared using Mann-Whitney or Wilcoxon tests for comparing between pre- and post-operative values. P-value was considered significant at < 0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five (27.7%) of the 18 pre-operative patients had elevated serum concentrations i.e. > 5.0 mg/L but no statistically significant difference was found when compared with healthy controls, with mean 4.4 +/- 6.6 and 0.9 +/- 0.7, respectively. Significantly raised serum concentrations were observed in all post-operative samples when compared with pre-operative samples. Serum CRP concentrations significantly increased post-operatively on Day 1, with mean value of 102.9 +/- 82.0 mg/L (p < 0.0005), and further increased on Day 2 with mean value of 166.9 +/- 128.1 mg/L (p < 0.0005), but declined on Day 7, with mean value of 42.7 +/- 63.6 mg/L (p < 0.005).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pre-operative serum C-reactive protein concentrations of 28% of the patients were elevated, suggesting an association with brain tumours. Post-operative serum concentrations were significantly higher than those noted before the surgery. Absence of a fall of concentration from peak value on post-operative Day 2 or a secondary rise from post-operative Day 7 could be alarming for inter-current infection.
authors.forename: Talat
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Syeda
authors.forename: Abdul Sattar
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Hashim
authors.forename: Husan Afroz
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Rizvi
authors.forename: Syed Murtaza
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hadi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000601:surgery*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007430:Intraoperative Care; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D011182:Postoperative Care; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein