[Heart and vascular surgery interventions with hypothermic circulatory arrest in adults]

In the period between 1981 and 1988, 51 patients were operated on the thoracic aorta using the hypothermic circulatory arrest technique. 31 patients had a dissection of the thoracic aorta, in 16 cases, an aneurysm was the reason for the intervention. In addition, we used the hypothermic circulatory arrest for a thrombectomy in the aortic arch and two mitral-valve replacements. The following operations were performed: 14 x composite graft, 19 x supracoronar prosthesis (6 x with aortic valve replacement, 3 x with partial replacement of aortic arch), 17 operations were performed either for aortic arch or aorta descendens replacement. In our retrospective study, 7 courses were fata (14%), 3 patients had complications with residuals. Compared with a group of 105 patients operated on the thoracic aorta in the same period without circulatory arrest, we found no difference with regard to the lethality and morbidity. We conclude that the hypothermic circulatory arrest is a safe technique for selected problems in cardiovascular surgery in adults.