Cardiopulmonary bypass and mitral valve replacement during pregnancy.

Gravid patient cardiopulmonary bypass remains a high-risk procedure with regard to fetal preservation. Maternal mortality is similar to that of the nonpregnant female at 1.5-5%. However, fetal mortality remains high at 16-33%, with an average of 19% over the past 25 years, with no correlation to gestational age. Teratogenesis is a major consideration in the first trimester. Variations in the timing of surgical intervention, gestational age, maternal health status, type of procedure, pre- or postorganogenesis, perfusion protocol, and pharmaceutical therapy are all factors that can influence fetomaternal outcome. In this report, we present a literature review along with our experience of a 26-year-old female who developed complications with her pregnancy at approximately 17 weeks gestation, with adverse neurological sequelae. The patient was 152 cm in height and weighed 48 kg, with a calculated body surface area of 1.40 M2. She had no prior history of cardiac disease and, upon admission to our institution, presented with a declining health status in pulmonary edema and was treated medically, with an ultimate requirement for mitral valve replacement. The total cardiopulmonary bypass time was 99 min with an aortic crossclamp time of 83 min. The literature, as expected, is limited to case reports and reviews since a controlled clinical trial during pregnancy is nonexistent, using extracorporeal circulation. This greatly challenges the medical staff in managing such difficult cases, with an incidence of heart disease during pregnancy of 1.2-3.7%.

Perfusion-assisted beating heart support with a miniature extracorporeal circuit and leukocyte filtration: a 58-year-old patient with severe COPD.

Patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) impose a significant risk for postoperative morbidity and mortality requiring cardiovascular surgical intervention and the use of extracorporeal circulation. Recently, we treated a 58-year-old male with acute coronary syndrome complicated with recurrent ventricular arrhythmia, hypoxemia secondary to severe COPD and resolving pneumonia, who required urgent coronary revascularization. A novel operative strategy was used that included beating heart bypass grafting with cardiac decompression and support with a miniature perfusion circuit, kinetic-assisted venous return, rapid autologous priming and leukocyte filtration. The combination of multiple modalities was chosen because the patient was in a pre-existing inflammatory condition and had severe COPD. We herein report our perioperative clinical experience with this patient and the use of multiple modalities for extracorporeal perfusion therapy in managing this challenging case. We believe that, based upon his clinical course of ventilation time (17.4 hours) and postoperative length of hospital stay (5 days), this high risk patient demonstrated a positive clinical outcome as a result of these techniques.

Leukocyte filtration and miniature perfusion during arrested heart CABG on a Jehovah's Witness patient.

Bloodless surgery and a reduction in the use of allogeneic blood products has long been the standard of care in medicine. Many individuals in our communities have demanded this form of surgical treatment for personal and religious reasons. On 6 December 2002, a 72-year-old male patient was admitted to our institution as a critical air flight transfer. The patient's height was 190.5 cm and weight was 59.3 kg (body surface area 1.83 m2). His preliminary diagnosis was chest pain with myocardial infarction as evidenced by elevated blood cardiac isoenzymes. His principle diagnosis was subendocardial infarction with paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia. Cardiac catheterization was performed and demonstrated severe triple vessel disease with an ejection fraction of 30%. He was evaluated and accepted as a candidate for coronary artery bypass grafting. Multidisciplinary consultation concluded that a safe and effective method of perioperative treatment would involve the use of arrested heart support with cold blood cardioplegia using a low prime miniature perfusion circuit as no blood products would be considered for use. Additionally, the combined modalities of perfusion interventions to minimize hemodilution consisted of intraoperative autologous blood collection totaling 500 mL and rapid autologous priming of the miniature perfusion circuit. The miniature perfusion system was a low prime Cardiovention (Santa Clara, CA) CORx device which includes a hollow-fiber oxygenator and integral centrifugal pump with a surface area of 1.2 m2. This system also incorporates an air sensing solenoid which triggers rapid air evacuation in a bolus range of 1 mL or greater. Kinetic venous drainage is another feature of this device as the centrifugal pump is integrated into the oxygenator. We believed that a miniature extracorporeal circuit would enhance the desired clinical outcome as opposed to the risk of: (1) off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) approach and the concern of emergent transition to an on-pump procedure and (2) use of larger surface area with conventional systems that impose a greater hemodilutional effect. Leukocyte filtration was employed as the patient had a significant past medical history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We herein report our clinical experience with this method of treatment on a patient who refused the use of blood products in his surgical treatment. It is our belief that the multiple modalities utilized in combination during this procedure resulted in positive clinical outcomes as demonstrated by an intubation time of 8 hours 35 min with a discharge on the fifth postoperative day.