Abstract:Objective: To explore the changes in serum histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3), aquaporin 2 (AQP2), and hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) in patients with intracerebral edema after minimally invasive surgery for hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage (HICH), and their predictive value for prognosis. Methods: A total of 197 HICH patients from March 2023 to March 2025 were selected as the study subjects and divided into three groups based on the severity of cerebral edema: mild group (80 cases), moderate group (64 cases), and severe group (53 cases). They were also divided into good prognosis group (112 cases) and poor prognosis group (85 cases) according to the prognosis. The serum levels of HDAC3, AQP2, and HIF-1α were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) before and after surgery. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the risk factors for poor prognosis after HICH surgery. The predictive value of serum HDAC3, AQP2, and HIF-1α levels for poor prognosis was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The internal calibration curve of the diagnostic model and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to assess the clinical application value of the model. Results: The serum levels of HDAC3, AQP2, and HIF-1α in HICH patients decreased after surgery compared with preoperative levels (P < 0.05). With the progression of cerebral edema from mild to moderate and severe, the serum levels of HDAC3, AQP2, and HIF-1α increased (P < 0.05). Compared with the good prognosis group, the poor prognosis group had higher age and blood volume, longer time from onset to admission, and higher serum levels of HDAC3, AQP2, and HIF-1α at 1, 3, and 7 days postoperatively (P < 0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that age, blood volume, time from onset to admission, and serum levels of HDAC3, AQP2, and HIF-1α were risk factors for poor prognosis after HICH surgery (P < 0.05). The ROC curve showed that the combined prediction of serum HDAC3, AQP2, and HIF-1α levels for poor prognosis had an AUC value of 0.967, which was significantly higher than that of individual predictions (Z = 3.600, Z = 3.841, Z = 4.594, all P < 0.001). Bootstrap internal validation showed that the prediction performance curve of the combined prediction model was highly consistent with the actual clinical occurrence curve. DCA curve analysis indicated that the combined detection had a significantly higher net benefit rate for predicting poor prognosis in HICH patients than individual detection of serum HDAC3, AQP2, and HIF-1α levels when the high-risk threshold was between 0.04 and 0.98. Conclusion: Serum HDAC3, AQP2, and HIF-1α in HICH patients after minimally invasive surgery are closely related to the severity and prognosis of intracerebral edema. Moreover, the combination of the three has a high predictive value for prognosis.