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Urine Desmosine as a Marker of Lung Injury Following Total Knee Arthroplasty. A Pilot Study

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HSS Journal

Abstract

Lung injury following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) may occur secondary to embolization of bone debris, fat, and cement. Clinically relevant respiratory failure is rare and is therefore difficult to study. To facilitate future investigations on this subject, we evaluated the utility of the elastin breakdown product desmosine as a potential marker of lung injury during TKA surgery. The goals of this study were to answer (1) if desmosine levels would increase in response to the perioperative insults in patients undergoing TKA and (2) if this increase would differ among unilateral and bilateral TKA procedures. Twenty consecutive patients (ten unilateral and ten bilateral TKAs) were enrolled. Urine samples were collected before surgery and at 1 and 3 days postoperatively and analyzed for levels of desmosine using a validated radioimmunoassay. Baseline desmosine/creatinine ratios were higher in the unilateral as compared to the bilateral TKA group (p = 0.003). Tourniquet times, intraoperative estimated blood loss, and transfusion requirements among bilateral TKA patients were significantly higher than those of unilateral TKA recipients. Desmosine levels increased in both groups, but the rise was significant only in the bilateral group. We detected a significant increase in urine desmosine levels associated with bilateral but not unilateral TKA surgery. In the context of previous studies, our findings suggest that desmosine may be a marker of postoperative lung injury. Further research is warranted for validation and correlation of desmosine levels to clinical markers and various degrees of lung injury.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 East 70th Street, New York, NY, 10021, USA

    Stavros G. Memtsoudis MD, PhD & Kethy Jules-Elysee MD

  2. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 East 70th Street, New York, NY, 10021, USA

    Alejandro González Della Valle MD & Thomas P. Sculco MD

  3. Department of Biochemistry, University of Texas Health Center, Tyler, TX, USA

    Barry Starcher PhD

  4. Department of Biostatistics, Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 East 70th Street, New York, NY, 10021, USA

    Yan Ma PhD

  5. Weill Cornell Medical College, 525 East 68th Street, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Stavros G. Memtsoudis MD, PhD, Alejandro González Della Valle MD, Yan Ma PhD, Kethy Jules-Elysee MD & Thomas P. Sculco MD

Authors
  1. Stavros G. Memtsoudis MD, PhD
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  2. Barry Starcher PhD
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  3. Alejandro González Della Valle MD
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  4. Yan Ma PhD
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  5. Kethy Jules-Elysee MD
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  6. Thomas P. Sculco MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stavros G. Memtsoudis MD, PhD.

Additional information

Investigation performed at the Hospital for Special Surgery.

Financial disclosure: This study was performed with funds from the Hospital for Special Surgery Anesthesiology Young Investigator Award provided by the Department of Anesthesiology at the Hospital for Special Surgery (SGM) and Center for Education and Research in Therapeutics (CERTs; AHRQ RFA-HS-05–14) and Clinical Translational Science Center (CTSC; NIH UL1-RR024996; YM). No conflicts of interest arise from any part of this study for any of the authors.

Each author certifies that his or her institution has approved the human protocol for this investigation and that all investigations were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research and that informed consent for participation in the study was obtained.

Level of evidence: Level III: Prognostic study

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Memtsoudis, S.G., Starcher, B., González Della Valle, A. et al. Urine Desmosine as a Marker of Lung Injury Following Total Knee Arthroplasty. A Pilot Study. HSS Jrnl 5, 154–158 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11420-009-9116-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11420-009-9116-9

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