Pre- and post-operative values of serum CRP in patients undergoing surgery for brain tumour

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.

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.

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).

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.