[A study of the immune status in patients before heart surgery using the Imunoskintest Sevac kit]

By means of a Immunoskintest Sevac kit the authors examined 99 patients who were subjected to heart surgery with extracorporeal circulation. In the group of patients with an index of more than 1.0 were 7% postoperative infectious complications, in the group with an index smaller than 1.0 there were 19% and in the group of patients with anergy and relative anergy there were 66% infectious complications after operation. The authors consider as risk patients those where anergy or relative anergy was proved, as well as patients with an index lower than 1.0 and a weak response to 2-3 antigens. In risk patients it is essential to make a detailed immunological examination and to correct in a suitable way their immunodeficiency, e. g. by administration of transfer factors. From the results ensues moreover that the immune response of patients, and thus also the development of postoperative infectious complications, is related to the patient's age and the presence of rheumatic disease.