BACKGROUND: Devices utilizing near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy have been used to assess regional intracerebral @entity26 saturation (rSO2) during anaesthesia for a decade. The presence of wide differences among individuals reduces their applicability to steady-state measurements. Current devices may not adequately account for variations in skin pigmentation. METHODS: From our ongoing departmental registry, 3282 consecutive @entity1 underwent cardiac surgery between 2010 and 2012 and their pre-induction measurements of rSO2 were available. Of these, 2096 identified themselves as Caucasian (Cauc) and 1186 as African-American (AA). Pre-induction rSO2, clinical and operative features were compared. RESULTS: Clinical and operative details of these @entity1 differed widely between the two populations. High-risk features were more common in AA @entity1 , but no difference in mortality was observed (4.8% in AAs vs 4.7% in Caucs, P=0.87). Preprocedure rSO2 was systematically higher in Cauc (65.5% vs 53.3%, P<0.001). After multivariate linear regression adjustment, AA ethnicity proved to be associated independently with low rSO2 [odds ratio (OR) -8.28, 95% confidence interval (CI) -9.12 to -7.44, P<0.001]. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that preprocedural rSO2 was independently associated with operative mortality both in the Cauc group (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.96-0.99, P=0.001) and in the AA group (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.95-0.99, P=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: AAs have a lower rSO2 than Caucs as measured by the INVOS 5100C cerebral oximeter. Reasonably, this could be attributed to attenuation of the NIR light by @entity2118 . Despite this limitation, in both ethnic groups, lower preoperative rSO2 was predictive of greater operative mortality.

Skin pigmentation interferes with the clinical measurement of regional cerebral XXXX saturation.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity26 :: ('MESH:D010100', 'Chemical') :: ['oxygen'] @entity2118 :: ('MESH:D010859', 'Disease') :: ['skin pigment']
@entity26 :: (MESH:D010100,Chemical) :: ['oxygen']
