The influence of on-pump and off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting on hemorheological parameters

Conditions during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) performed on beating heart (off-pump) are more physiological than using extracorporeal perfusion (on-pump). The present study aims to examine the hemorheological aspects of the two techniques. Blood samples were taken from patients undergoing on-pump (n = 25) and off-pump (n = 22) CABG, upon arrival to the operating theatre, after 20 and 40 minutes during the operation, after closing the thorax, on the 1st and 2nd postoperative days, and during the 2nd and 6th month control check-ups. Hematocrit (Hct), plasma and whole blood viscosity (PV, WBV; Hevimet 40 capillary viscometer), red blood cell (RBC) aggregation (Myrenne RBC aggregometer, LORCA) and deformability (LORCA, Carat FT-1 filtrometer), and platelet aggregation (Carat TX4 aggregometer) were determined. The morphology of red blood cells was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Hct, PV, WBV and RBC aggregation decreased significantly during the early phase of the surgery, they started to recover during the postoperative period, and reached the baseline values by the 2nd and 6th month control check-ups. These parameters were significantly lower in samples taken after 20 and 40 minutes in the on-pump group. SEM showed rather damaged and malformed cells in case of on-pump surgery. Ektacytometry showed no significant difference, but RBC deformability was impaired during on-pump surgery when measured by filtrometry. The decrease in platelet aggregation was more pronounced by the end of surgery in case of on-pump technique. During CABG rheological parameters change less when using the off-pump method, and mechanical damage of RBCs are also smaller. The off-pump technique seems to be favorable from a hemorhelogical point of view.