Open heart surgery in patients with sickle haemoglobin, 1968-1978

ABSTRACT

Thirty-one patients with sickle haemoglobin were scheduled for open heart surgery between 1968 and 1978. The clinical and investigative data, operative morbidity and mortality and autopsy data have been presented. It is unlikely that intravascular sickling has been responsible for the deaths following surgery. It is concluded that the present techniques of anaesthesia, cardio-pulmonary bypass and open heart surgery pose no greater hazard to patients with sickle haemoglobin compared to those with a normal haemoglobin (AU)