The effects of preoperative aspirin therapy on platelet function in cardiac surgery

Extracorporeal circulation is known to have profound effects upon platelets. Changes in platelet function were assessed in 20 patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) who stopped taking aspirin (100 mg per day) 5-7 days before the operation compared with 20 patients undergoing aortic valve replacement (AVR) who had never taken anticoagulants or aspirin. Platelet aggregometry was carried out using the turbidimetric technique (inducing agents: adenosine diphosphate (ADP) 1.0 and 2.0 mumol/l; collagen 4 micrograms/ml; epinephrine 25 mumol/l), and maximum aggregation as well as the maximum gradient of aggregation were monitored before, during, and after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) until the 1st postoperative (p.o.) day. Until the 1st p.o. day blood loss was significantly higher in the CABG (890 +/- 160 ml) than in the AVR patients (420 +/- 120 ml). A total of 8 units of packed red cells (PRC) were given in the CABG group, whereas no homologous blood was necessary in the AVR patients (P < 0.05). The aggregation variables of the CABG patients were lower than in the AVR patients as early as after the induction of anesthesia (difference in maximum aggregation ranged from 13-29%). During CPB and immediately thereafter, all aggregation variables were significantly reduced in the CABG patients (reduction in maximum aggregation ranged from -32 to -49%) and were significantly different from the platelet aggregation in the AVR patients. Five hours after CPB and on the 1st p.o. day platelet aggregation in the CABG group almost returned to baseline values, however, without reaching the values of the AVR patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)