Despite the acceptance of extracorporeal circulation as an effective modality to facilitate cardiac surgery, patient outcomes can be negatively influenced by the occurrence of perfusion incidents. A perfusion survey was conducted to identify safety techniques and incidents related to cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). An 80-question survey was mailed to chief perfusionists of all 1030 USA cardiac surgical centers using CPB. The survey was designed to examine practices and incidents that occurred during a 2-year period (July 1996 to July 1998). Five-hundred-and-fifty-two (54% response rate) surveys were returned, which accounted for 797 hospitals (79% of all cardiac centers) and 653,621 surgical procedures. Of the 27 identified CPB safety devices, the highest utilization was arterial line filters (98.5%) and the lowest arterial line bubble traps (3.4%). Of the reported cases, a CPB incident occurred once every 138 cases. The most common occurring incidents were protamine reactions (1:783), coagulation problems (1:771), and heater/cooler failures 11:1809). The rate of occurrence of an incident resulting in a serious injury or death was one for every 1453 procedures. Although techniques and safety devices create a relatively secure environment for CPB, lower incident rates may be achieved with further improvements in coagulation monitoring and incident reporting.

Severe coagulation defects often develop in neonates undergoing cardiac surgery, both as a result of the surgical intervention, and as pre-existing defects in the hemostatic mechanisms. The following case report describes a newborn patient with complex congenital heart disease and respiratory failure whose pre-operative coagulopathy was aggressively managed prior to surgical correction. A 5-day-old, 2.5 kg child presented with interrupted aortic arch, ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect, and patent ductus arteriosus. On admission, he was in respiratory arrest suffering from profound acidemia. In addition, the child was hypothermic (30.1 degrees C), septic (Streptococcus viridans), and coagulopathic (disseminated intravascular coagulation-DIC). The patient was immediately intubated and initial coagulation assessment revealed the following: prothrombin time (PT) 48.9 s (international normalized ratio (INR) 15.7), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) >106 s, platelet count 30,000 mm(3), fibrinogen 15 mg dL(-1) and antithrombin III (AT-III) 10%. Before cardiac surgery could be performed, the patient's DIC was corrected with the administration of cryoprecipitate (15 ml), fresh frozen plasma (300 ml), and platelets (195 ml). In spite of the large transfusion of fresh frozen plasma, the AT-III activity, measured as a percentage, remained depressed at 33. Initial thromboelastographic (TEG) determination revealed an index of +2.02, and following 100 IU administration of an AT-III concentrate, declined to -2.32. Sequential TEG profiles were performed over several days, with the results used to guide both transfusion and medical therapy. The congenital heart defect correction was subsequently performed with satisfactory initial results, but the patient developed a fungal infection and expired on the 16th post-operative day. The present case describes techniques of coagulation management for a newborn with both a severe hemostatic defect and congenital heart disease.

Within the last 10 years, the incorporation of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB) into many surgical practices has grown. OPCAB requires the surgeon to operate on a beating heart, and it is generally accepted that OPCAB procedures are more technically demanding. Concerns of possible incomplete revascularizations and decreased graft patency have been noted in the literature. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare on-pump and off-pump intraoperative coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) flow parameters. Intraoperative flow studies conducted with the Butterfly (Medi-Stim Norge AS, Oslo, Norway) flow meter were analyzed retrospectively on 74 patients. Comparisons were completed between patient groups having had their revascularizations performed on or off cardiopulmonary bypass. Our study revealed significant differences in the mean flow rate through saphenous vein grafts (SVG) to the obtuse marginal artery (OM; p = .014), to the diagonal artery (Diag; p = .003), to the right coronary artery (RCA; p = .001), and to the posterior descending artery (PDA; p = .001). Total blood product use showed significantly increased use of both platelets (PLTs) and cryoprecipitate (Cryo) in the on-pump group (p = .027 and .012, respectively). No differences were found for transfusions of red blood cells (RBCs) or fresh frozen plasma (FFP). Additional findings showed a significantly decreased median length of stay (LOS) for the off-pump group. The on-pump patients had a median hospital stay of 7 days (range, 4–24 days), whereas the off-pump patients had a median stay of 6 days (range, 3–22 days; p = .049). Although we were able to show some significance in the mean flow data supporting increased graft flow with the on-pump technique, we were not able to show an overall increase in all recorded flow characteristics to support one method over another.

Focus on improved myocardial protection has prompted the development of delivery systems which can accommodate the demands of increasingly refined cardioprotective strategies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Sorin Blood Cardioplegia Console™ (BCC) for accuracy and precision in the delivery of cardioplegia solutions. An in vitro model was designed to evaluate the following performance characteristics of the BCC: delivery volume (blood and crystalloid) at 50, 250, 375, and 500 mllmin flow rates; potassium end-delivery concentration at blood: crystalloid ratios of 4:1, 8:1, and 16:1; intermittent cardioplegia delivery; and heat transfer of the internal heater/cooler. Differences in blood and cardioplegia volumes between measured and calculated values across all flow rates tested were found to be statistically significant and ranged from 1.4 to 21.5 ml; however, the differences were within the accepted variance of the instrument (±5%). Across all tested ratios, the measured end-potassium concentrations were all within 1 mEq of the expected values, except for the 16:1 ratio at 50 ml!min, which had a 2.52 mEq variance. All significant differences were within the accepted variance of the instrument (±5% ). In conclusion, the BCC accurately and delivered cardioplegia volumes and potassium concentrations across all tested conditions with reproducible performance.