The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Vol 101, 260-268, Copyright © 1991 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery and The Western Thoracic Surgical Association
Beneficial effect of pericardial meshing on left ventricular pump performance in dogs
M Oe, T Asou, S Morita, K Fukamachi, A Mitani and K Tokunaga
Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
To evaluate the effects of pericardial meshing (multiple incisions on the
pericardium) on cardiac function, we examined left ventricular pump
performance before and after pericardial meshing in six open chest dogs. We
evaluated left ventricular systolic properties with the slope of
end-systolic pressure-volume relation and diastolic properties with
end-diastolic pressure-volume relation (chamber compliance). Overall left
ventricular performance was assessed with end-diastolic pressure versus
cardiac output relation. Left ventricular chamber compliance was increased
(31.3%) with pericardial meshing compared with direct closure of the
pericardium, and cardiac output was increased (26.7%) for any given left
ventricular end-diastolic pressure. The slope of the end- systolic
pressure-volume relation was not altered in pericardial meshing. These
results suggest that pericardial meshing improves left ventricular pump
performance as a result of increasing left ventricular chamber compliance.
This technique may benefit cardiac pump performance that is depressed by
the direct closure of the pericardium after cardiac operations.
