We investigated the relationship between serum prostaglandin E(2) and intraoperative blood pressure in pediatric cardiac surgery with modified ultrafiltration. In 35 consecutive patients (31.6 +/- 26.8 months, 0.4-111 months, 10.9 +/- 5.5 kg, 2.9-23.8 kg) who underwent cardiac surgery with modified ultrafiltration, we measured intraoperative serum prostaglandin E(2) changes and effluent prostaglandin E(2), assessed the relationship between serum prostaglandin E(2) and intraoperative hemodynamic parameters, and performed subset analyses to compare patients with low (<10 kg, n = 18) and high (>10 kg, n = 10) weights. During cardiopulmonary bypass, systolic blood pressure decreased from 80.8 +/- 15.2 to 60.5 +/- 11.3 mm Hg (P = .00000002979) and serum prostaglandin E(2) increased from 16.6 +/- 8.7 to 58.8 +/- 53.3 pg/mL (P = .002). During modified ultrafiltration, although central venous pressure and catecholamine dosage transited at the same levels, systolic blood pressure increased from 60.5 +/- 11.3 to 83.4 +/- 14.1 mm Hg (P = .00000002979) and serum prostaglandin E(2) decreased from 58.8 +/- 53.3 to 21.1 +/- 11.6 pg/mL (P = .001), with negative correlation between serum prostaglandin E(2) and systolic blood pressure (R = -0.392, P = .0000277723) and 15,700 +/- 10,700 pg (1790 +/- 2230 pg/kg) prostaglandin E(2) removed during modified ultrafiltration. Decrease in serum prostaglandin E(2) was significantly higher in low-weight patients (51.8 +/- 58.4 pg/mL) than in high-weight patients (15.7 +/- 30.1 pg/mL). Removal of prostaglandin E(2) is one reason for increased blood pressure during modified ultrafiltration, with the effect more marked in low-weight patients.
