Early experience with a new technique and technology designed for the study of pulsatile cardiopulmonary bypass in the rat

Abstract

The benefits of pulsatile flow during the period of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) applied during open-heart surgery remains controversial. We have developed a rodent (rat) model of CBP that has been designed to functionally mimic the clinical setting, principally, but not solely, for the study of pulsatile CPB. The successful development of this model centres on the design of the bypass circuitry and the surgical approach employed. The entire circuit is similar to clinical equipment in terms of its construction, configuration, performance, material surface area to blood volume ratio, and priming volume to blood volume ratio. The overall priming volume of the perfusion circuitry is less than 12 ml. Early studies confirm that the pumping technology functions well, gas exchange was adequate at all times, and blood pressure exhibited a normal CPB profile and haemodynanmic response to pulsatile blood flow. We conclude that this is an effective tool for investigating the pathophysiology of pulsatile blood flow during CPB.

Cardiopulmonary bypass and long-term neurocognitive dysfunction in the rat

“…One might approximate the clinical situation more closely by using an open chest setup to achieve and maintain ventricular fibrillation. Such a model was recently outlined by Gourlay et al (2002), but survival and long-term outcomes within this model have not yet been described. Second, several factors that have been suspected of being clinically important in causing neurological pathology are absent in this model, including cerebral arterial embolization from atherosclerotic plaques and reinfused cardiotomy blood contaminated with fat, thrombi and other debris (Moody et al, 1995) and cerebral hypoperfusion.…”

Effects of cardiopulmonary bypass on tight junction protein expressions in intestinal mucosa of rats

“…Surgical pr oced u r e f or C PB [20][21][22] : Ra ts wer e anaesthetized with intraperitoneal administration of chloral hydrate (350 mg/kg). Once the anesthesia was achieved for the surgical level, the rats were placed in supine position.…”

A rat model of cardiopulmonary bypass with excellent survival

“…Previous attempts at developing rat CPB models have been successful to some extent [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], but most of them were partial bypass or depended on large quantities of priming. Few studies referred to a truly clinically relevant model of complete CPB dealing with the fluid flow, surface area, and priming volume of the circuitry in the literature.…”