[Blood plasma zinc and copper concentrations in patients with purulent soft tissue wounds]

The paper considers postoperative imbalance of the trace elements zinc and copper in 40 surgical patients aged 47.2 +/- 17.1 years who have extensive purulent soft tissue wounds (PSTW). In 90% of the patients with PSTW, plasma Zn++ levels were much lower than the reference values (the normal value was 11.1-19.5 micromol/l) while in 47.5%, serum Zn++ was in the range of less than 7 micromol/l, which is a poor prognostic factor. There was a negative correlation between the level of Zn++ and that of C-reactive protein (CRP) and a positive correlation between the former and the magnitude of a reduction in transferrin (TF) as a marker of protein-energy malnutrition. Plasma Cu/Zn ratio is shown to be of very clinical importance. The higher this ratio (normal ratio 0.9-1.13) is, the more severe the general condition of patients with PSTW, the higher CRP values (above 120 mg/l; normal value 0-6 mg/l), and the lower TF levels are. In patients with PSTW, zinc level and Cu/Zn ratio may act as an independent predictor of a grave condition during a systemic inflammatory reaction.