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J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2007;133:241-246
© 2007 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery
Surgery for Congenital Heart Disease |
Institut Hospitalier Jacques Cartier, Department of Pediatric Perfusion and Intensive Care, Massy, France.
Received for publication April 19, 2006; revisions received September 15, 2006; accepted for publication October 2, 2006. * Address for reprints: Yves Durandy, MD, Institut Hospitalier Jacques Cartier, Avenue du Noyer Lambert 91300, Massy, France. (Email: iciprea{at}icip.org).
| Abstract |
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METHODS: We used intermittent (every 15 minutes after initial injection) warm blood cardioplegia in the treatment of 1400 patients. Results were retrospectively compared with those of 950 patients treated with cold blood cardioplegia. The following parameters were analyzed: (1) hydric balance of cardioplegic solution; (2) resumption of rhythm after aortic crossclamp removal; (3) duration of mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit stay, and incidence of mortality in 4 selected diagnostic groups: ventricular septal defect, tetralogy of Fallot, atrioventricular septal defect, and transposition of the great arteries. These 4 groups, treated with warm or cold cardioplegia, were comparable with regard to age, weight, crossclamp times, and percent with Down syndrome; (4) troponin level at 12 hours after aortic crossclamping; and (5) duration of intensive care unit stay for the 1400 patients.
RESULTS: Warm versus cold cardioplegia: negligible fluid addition with warm cardioplegia compared with blood loss/prime dilution induced by cold cardioplegia; spontaneous resumption of sinus rhythm in 99% versus 77% of patients (P < .001); shorter duration of ventilatory support in each diagnostic group, significant in all cases; smaller increase in troponin in each group (P < .05). Incidence of early death was not different in the 2 groups. For the whole group, duration of the intensive care unit stay was less than 48 hours in 86% versus 75% (P < .001).
CONCLUSION: In our experience, normothermic cardioplegia has not generated any particular inconvenience and its use was contemporary, with improved outcomes.
| Introduction |
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| Patients and Methods |
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Results of clinical use of IWBC were compared with those of 950 patients operated on with normothermic bypass and cold blood cardioplegia (CBC). The composition of the CBC was one third of blood withdrawn from the oxygenator and two thirds of potassium-enriched crystalloid solution. The final potassium concentration was influenced by the kalemia of blood in the oxygenator, the final result being about19 mEq/L. The two components were mixed in a plastic bag and cooled in iced water. They were injected by simple gravity in small children; in older children, a positive pressure generated about the plastic bag was necessary. The initial injection was directly related to body surface area with the formula 500 mL/m2. Half the initial dose was reinjected every 20 to 30 minutes. The cardioplegic solution was most often aspirated from the right atrium outside the bypass circuit. The volume of fluid loss was equivalent to the blood withdrawn from the oxygenator; that is, one third of the total volume of cardioplegic solution. In a 3-kg baby, 35 mL of oxygenator blood was wasted during the initial injection, and in a 10-kg child, 80 mL.
During the whole study, the surgical, anesthetic, perfusionist, and intensive care staff remained the same. Normothermic perfusion was used in both groups. Ultrafiltration, during or after bypass, was never used.
The peroperative and postoperative inotropic support was identical during the "cold" and "warm" periods. A phosphodiesterase inhibitor, as proved by the PRIMACORP study,8
was used prophylactically in patients at risk of low-output syndrome.
Several parameters were used to compare retrospectively the results obtained with the two techniques of cardioplegia.
2 test for comparison of percentages.
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| Results |
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In the IWBC group, the total volume of infused cardioplegic solution ranged from 3 to 6 mL in neonates to 50 mL in grown-up children of adult size. The cardioplegic solution represented the only addition in volume to the pump prime, as the sanguineous component of this solution was constituted by blood diverted from the bypass circuit and returned to it.
In patients with CBC, hydric balance was variable: When the cardioplegic solution was discarded from the operating field, blood was lost from the bypass circuit (the total amount lost was related to the number of cardioplegic infusions); when the cardioplegic solution was inadvertently recuperated in the bypass circuit, dilution of the prime ensued.
Results with IWBC, compared with those with CBC, are depicted in Table 3. The proportion of spontaneous resumption of sinus rhythm after aortic unclamping is significantly better in IWBC patients. The delay between aortic clamp removal and resumption of sinus rhythm is short, electrical activity appears most often during deairing procedures, and sinus rhythm resumes within a few minutes.
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| Discussion |
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Continuous warm blood cardioplegia seems unrealistic in pediatric surgery and is probably impossible in the repair of some cardiac defects. Since efficiency and safety of IWBC have been demonstrated in adults,4-6
its application may be considered for pediatric surgery.
A warm solution is as efficient as a cold one in inducing hyperkalemic cardiac arrest. An advantage of IWBC is its absence of influence on hydric balance, the fluid volume added to the bypass circuit being negligible. On the contrary, a cold cardioplegic solution is composed of crystalloid mixed with blood from the oxygenator. The final hematocrit of the solution is around 10%, in the range described as beneficial by experimental work.9
The cardioplegic solution is either discharged outside with blood loss or aspirated in the cardiotomy reservoir, with increased prime dilution. The prime loss for each cardioplegic injection may require the addition of extra fluid in the bypass circuit, increasing blood consumption.
The adjunction of a cell salvage device is inefficient to counteract this side effect. The volume of each cardioplegic infusion is small and the delay to obtain the washed concentrated blood is too long to avoid extra fluid addition. The benefit of ultrafiltration is also questionable because of the extra volume needed to prime the hemofilter circuit. Our rationale is to improve tolerance to cardiopulmonary bypass by decreasing prime volume solution. We use a prime (including priming of the cardioplegic circuit) of 140 mL for infants up to 5.5 kg and of 170 mL for patients weighing between 5.6 and 13 kg. To achieve this small volume, we eliminated every component that is not absolutely mandatory, such as the ultrafiltration circuit. During hypothermic perfusion, hemodilution is frequently used; on the contrary, normothermic perfusion is commonly performed with normal hematocrit values, so there is hardly any need to hemoconcentrate the patient. In any case, the absence of side effect on fluid balance of IWBC allows a simpler bypass procedure.
The main limitation of this study is its retrospective nature. However, we believe that there are some arguments to its validity:
Time to extubation is not a direct effect of myocardial protection but is used as an index of quality of cardioplegia.11-13
Spontaneous breathing is an important stage in the postoperative period, which implies adequate hemodynamic and gas exchange. We have excluded from the analysis patients with an extracardiac reason for prolonged ventilation as well as nonsurvivors. The number of excluded patients is low and similar in each group.
Mortality is equivalent with the 2 techniques of cardioplegia; death followed imperfect surgical repair (3 cases), hemorrhage (3 cases), and sepsis (4 cases). Similar events are most unlikely related to cardioplegia.
Furthermore, the inclusion of time to ventilation of nonsurviving patients is open to criticism inasmuch as 50% of patients died within 12 hours.
The modification of troponin level is used to evaluate the quality of myocardial protection, but it may also be influenced by the type of cardiac defect.12-16
The rise in troponin level is more important in pediatric than in adult patients, and the widest variations are described after surgery for complete atrioventricular septal defect, tetralogy of Fallot, and homograft or xenograft implantation.17
For this reason, consensus is lacking on the value of the median or peak level after pediatric surgery: around 4 to 7 ng/mL after arterial switch18
or 25 ng/mL as a cutoff point for the definition of a high- and a low-risk group.19
Our data are in concordance with the literature: the higher levels of postoperative troponin I are found in complete atrioventricular septal defect and tetralogy of Fallot. Troponin increase is significantly lower in the 4 groups treated with IWBC than in those treated with CBC. Time to extubation is lower in patients with ventricular septal defect and tetralogy of Fallot. The difference is significant but too short to modify length of ICU stay. On the contrary, time to extubation and ICU stay are significantly shorter for patients with complete atrioventricular septal defect and those with transposition of the great arteries.
ICU stay is shorter with IWBC than with CBC. In our practice, IWBC is associated with improved hemodynamic stability, allowing early extubation in the majority of cases. Resumption of feeding commonly starts in the first 12 hours after the operation, and duration of inotropic support rarely exceeds 48 hours.
The percentage of patients who require postoperative inotropic support is also considered as a relevant factor in evaluating the efficacy of myocardial protection.11,17,20
These data were not analyzed in this study. Enoximone was used prophylactically in neonates and infants at risk of low cardiac output syndrome along with the PRIMACORP study, which showed a 64% relative risk reduction in the development of low cardiac output syndrome with the prophylactic use of a similar drug, milrinone.8
An identical prophylactic treatment has been used in the 2 groups of patients compared in this study; that is, before weaning from bypass, all the patients within the 4 groups studied received a loading dose of enoximone, 1 mg/kg in 15 minutes followed by a continuous infusion of 10 µg · kg1 · min1.
| Conclusions |
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| Acknowledgments |
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| References |
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