Neurocognitive dysfunction after cardiac surgery and biochemical markers

The postoperative cognitive dysfunction is typically neurologic complication after cardiac surgery. Although it is the most frequent neurologic complication, its pathophysiology is still poorly understood. The lack of standardized clinical evaluation tests in diagnosis and the fact that the applied tests are time-consuming usually makes it overlooked. It also increases treatment expenditures. Therefore, the determination of the cognitive dysfunction with the analysis of the blood samples may reduce the waste of time. In this article, we examine biomarkers, notably sloop and neuron-specific enolase, which are used for the determination of the postoperative cognitive dysfunction.