[Anesthesia in surgical treatment of the ascending aorta-arch aneurysms]

The paper analyzes anesthesiological maintenance of infusion therapy, optimal criteria for effective brain protection, complications and mortality in 42 patients during operations on the ascending portion and arch of the aorta under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. For this purpose, the patients were divided into 2 groups: Group 1 comprised 20 patients operated on before 1998; Group 2 included 22 patients operated on in 1998 to 2001. In both groups, circulatory arrest lasted 44 +/- 7 min. The patients were cooled to a temperature of 13.5 +/- 0.5 degrees C, to 15 +/- 0.6 degrees C in the nasopharynx. The duration of cooling was 58 +/- 5 and 73 +/- 6 min, respectively; that of warming-up was 70 +/- 8 and 83 +/- 6 min. Investigations have indicated that determination of the optimum brain cooling requires a complex assessment of central temperature values, electroencephalographic monitoring (visual estimation of a curve and quantitative characteristics), SjbO2 and cerebral metabolism. The investigations have shown that the procedure for anesthesiological maintenance and cerebral metabolism is safe and effective even in patients with arrested circulation lasting longer than 60 min. The operative mortality does not depend on the use of circulatory arrest under deep hypothermia and on its duration. Hemodynamic instability due to bleeding, as well as myocardial infarction, marked hemodilution during extracorporeal circulation are major factors that cause an increase in the rates of incidence of complications and mortality. The procedure used for anesthesiological maintenance and infusion therapy, decreased blood loss, and a reduction in the incidence of myocardial infarction could significantly reduce operative mortality. The fact that there were no neurological complications even during prolonged (80-min) circulatory arrest has shown that the brain-protective procedure including both general and regional cooling is reliable and to the extent of the indicated criteria. So is pharmacological protection.