The Serum Level of Proinflammatory TNF-alpha Cytokine in Cyanotic and Acyanotic Congenital Heart Diseases in Mosul City

0.05). The average TNF- level in acyanotic heart diseases was 321.18 325.71 ng/l compared to 120.63 84.33 ng/l in cyanotics and 119.01 139.71 in healthy controls. TNF- was significantly elevated in acyanotic heart diseases in comparison to healthy children (P = 0.003). No significant difference was noted between acyaotics and cyanotic heart diseases in regards to TNF- concentrations (P = 0.07). No age or gender effects were noted on TNF- concentration in both acyanotic and cyanotic heart diseases (P>0.05). At the best cut-off value of 124 ng/l TNF- had a specificity of 90.32% , sensitivity of 48.28% and accuracy rate of 39% as indicated by AUC-ROC curve . Conclusion: The current study showed higher TNF- in acyanotic (but not in cyanotic) heart diseases compared to healthy controls. TNF- had poor diagnostic utility to discriminate between CHD and healthy individuals and therefore not recommended as valuable biological marker for the diagnosis of CHD.]]>