Cerebral Oximetry and Autoregulation during Cardiopulmonary Bypass: A Review.

Postoperative neurological complications (PNCs) following cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is a detrimental complication, contributing to increased mortality rates and health care costs. To prevent intraoperative cerebral desaturations associated with PNC, continuous brain monitoring using near-infrared spectroscopy has been advocated. However, clear evidence for a defined desaturation threshold requiring intervention during CPB is still lacking. Since cerebral oximetry readings are nonspecific, cerebral tissue oxygenation values need to be interpreted with caution and in the context of all available clinical information. Therefore, maintaining an intact autoregulatory activity during CPB rather than solely focusing on regional cerebral oxygen saturation measurements will collectively contribute to optimization of patient care during CPB.

Hemodilution Combined With Hypercapnia Impairs Cerebral Autoregulation During Normothermic Cardiopulmonary Bypass.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of hemodilution and arterial pCO2 on cerebral autoregulation and cerebral vascular CO2 reactivity. DESIGN: Prospective interventional study. SETTING: University hospital-based single-center study. PARTICIPANTS: Forty adult patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery using normothermic cardiopulmonary bypass. INTERVENTIONS: Blood pressure variations induced by 6/minute metronome-triggered breathing (baseline) and cyclic 6/min changes of indexed pump flow at 3 levels of arterial pCO2. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Based on median hematocrit on bypass, patients were assigned to either a group of a hematocrit ≥28% or<28%. The autoregulation index was calculated from cerebral blood flow velocity and mean arterial blood pressure using transfer function analysis. Cerebral vascular CO2 reactivity was calculated using cerebral tissue oximetry data. Cerebral autoregulation as reflected by autoregulation index (baseline 7.5) was significantly affected by arterial pCO2 (median autoregulation index amounted to 5.7, 4.8, and 2.8 for arterial pCO2 of 4.0, 5.3, and 6.6 kPa, p≤0.002) respectively. Hemodilution resulted in a decreased autoregulation index; however, during hypocapnia and normocapnia, there were no significant differences between the two hematocrit groups. Moreover, the autoregulation index was lowest during hypercapnia when hematocrit was<28% (autoregulation index 3.3 versus 2.6 for hematocrit ≥28% and<28%, respectively, p = 0.014). Cerebral vascular CO2 reactivity during hypocapnia was significantly lower when perioperative hematocrit was<28% (p = 0.018). CONCLUSIONS: Hemodilution down to a hematocrit of<28% combined with hypercapnia negatively affects dynamic cerebral autoregulation, which underlines the importance of tight control of both hematocrit and paCO2 during CPB.

Impact of Intraoperative Events on Cerebral Tissue Oximetry in Patients Undergoing Cardiopulmonary Bypass.

Previous studies showed that decreased cerebral saturation during cardiac surgery is related to adverse postoperative outcome. Therefore, we investigated the influence of intraoperative events on cerebral tissue saturation in patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). A total of 52 adult patients who underwent cardiac surgery using pulsatile CPB were included in this prospective explorative study. Cerebral tissue oxygen saturation (SctO2) was measured in both the left and right cerebral hemisphere. Intraoperative events, involving interventions performed by anesthesiologist, surgeon, and clinical perfusionist, were documented. Simultaneously, in-line hemodynamic parameters (partial oxygen pressure, partial carbon dioxide pressure, hematocrit, arterial blood pressure, and CPB flow rates) were recorded. Cerebral tissue saturation was affected by anesthetic induction (p < .001), placement of the sternal retractor (p < .001), and initiation (p < .001) as well as termination of CPB (p < .001). Placement (p < .001) and removal of the aortic cross-clamp (p = .026 for left hemisphere, p = .048 for right hemisphere) led to changes in cerebral tissue saturation. In addition, when placing the aortic crossclamp, hematocrit (p < .001) as well as arterial (p = .007) and venous (p < .001) partial oxygen pressures changed. Cerebral tissue oximetry effectively identifies changes related to surgical events or vulnerable periods during cardiac surgery. Future studies are needed to identify methods of mitigating periods of reduced cerebral saturation.

Assessment of dynamic cerebral autoregulation and cerebral carbon dioxide reactivity during normothermic cardiopulmonary bypass.

Despite increased risk of neurological complications after cardiac surgery, monitoring of cerebral hemodynamics during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is still not a common practice. Therefore, a technique to evaluate dynamic cerebral autoregulation and cerebral carbon dioxide reactivity (CO2R) during normothermic nonpulsatile CPB is presented. The technique uses continuous recording of invasive arterial blood pressure, middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity, absolute cerebral tissue oxygenation, in-line arterial carbon dioxide levels, and pump flow measurement in 37 adult male patients undergoing elective CPB. Cerebral autoregulation is estimated by transfer function analysis and the autoregulation index, based on the response to blood pressure variation induced by cyclic 6/min changes of indexed pump flow from 2.0 to 2.4 up to 2.8 L/min/m(2). CO2R was calculated from recordings of both cerebral blood flow velocity and cerebral tissue oxygenation. Cerebral autoregulation and CO2R were estimated at hypocapnia, normocapnia, and hypercapnia. CO2R was preserved during CPB, but significantly lower for hypocapnia compared with hypercapnia (p < 0.01). Conversely, cerebral autoregulation parameters such as gain, phase, and autoregulation index were significantly higher (p < 0.01) during hypocapnia compared with both normocapnia and hypercapnia. Assessing cerebral autoregulation and CO2R during CPB, by cyclic alteration of pump flow, showed an impaired cerebral autoregulation during hypercapnia.

An in vitro and in vivo study of the detection and reversal of venous collapse during extracorporeal life support.

The objective of this study was to investigate venous collapse (VC) related to venous drainage during the use of an extracorporeal life support circuit. A mock circulation was built containing a centrifugal pump and a collapsible vena cava model to simulate VC under controlled conditions. Animal experiments were performed for in vivo verification. Changing pump speed had a different impact on flow during a collapsed and a distended caval vein in both models. Flow measurement in combination with pump speed interventions allows for the detection and quantitative assessment of the degree of VC. Additionally, it was verified that a quick reversal of a VC situation could be achieved by a two-step pump speed intervention, which also proved to be more effective than a straightforward decrease in pump speed.