Effect of surface coating on platelet count drop during cardiopulmonary bypass

This study was designed to investigate the effect of surface coating on platelet count drop during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Sixty patients undergoing open-heart surgery were randomly divided into three groups each receiving a different type of coated hollow-fiber membrane oxygenator. The patients were given either an uncoated oxygenator (noncoated group), an oxygenator coated with Carmeda (Carmeda group) or an uncoated oxygenator with albumin in the priming solution (albumin group). Comparisons were made in platelet count pre-CPB, on bypass (15-25 min) and during the warming period. Calculations were used to account for the effect of hemodilution. The albumin group had significantly lower platelet count drops (-4.8+/-7.1%) than the Carmeda group (11.0+/-8.3%) and the noncoated group (20.3+/-14.5%). Carmeda surface coating demonstrated some beneficial effects, but to a lesser degree than the albumin.