Neurological injury during cardiopulmonary bypass in the rat

Cerebral injury is a well-known complication of cardiac surgery. Investigations of both injury mechanisms and neuroprotective strategies have partially been limited by the lack of an adequate preclinical model of small animal cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). We sought to determine if neurological injury could be demonstrated in a recovery model of complete CPB in the rat. Rats (n = 5) underwent 45 min of normothermic CPB followed by 24 h of recovery. Compared to sham-operated rats (n = 5), the CPB group showed a worse neurological outcome score (median, 25-75th percentile) compared to controls (5, 4-7 vs 9, 8-9, p = 0.016). This rat model of CPB may allow for the study of CPB-associated neurological injury.