Unilateral Antegrade Cerebral Perfusion and Moderate Hypothermia: Assessing Safety With Novel Biomarkers

Antegrade cerebral perfusion in aortic surgery is a well-established brain protection method. Open distal anastomosis during aortic surgery has some well-known advantages. Antegrade cerebral perfusion allows repair to some extent of the aortic arch, even in isolated ascending aortic aneurysm. The present study aims to investigate the adequacy of contralateral perfusion with novel oxidative stress parameters during unilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion.

The study included 30 consecutive patients undergoing thoracic aortic surgery with unilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion (uACP) under moderate hypothermia (28° C). Blood samples from right and left jugular vein were obtained at four time intervals during surgery (after the anaesthetic induction - Phase 1, at the beginning of cardiopulmonary bypass - Phase 2, 15^th minute of uACP - Phase 3 and after weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass - Phase 4). Novel oxidative stress parameters (advanced oxidation protein products, sialic acid, thiol reagents and ischaemia-modified serum albumin), blood gas analysis, and serum glucose and lactate levels were measured. In addition, intraoperative and early postoperative follow-up parameters were recorded.

Mean unilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion time was observed to be 16.4±5.9min (9 - 46min). No significant differences between right and left hemispheres were observed in novel oxidative parameters or biochemical values. There was only one temporary neurological deficit (3.3%) in the patient group.

The present study demonstrated that open distal anastomosis for hemiarch repair can be performed safely with unilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion under moderate hypothermia with both clinical outcome and novel biomarkers.