[Separate perfusion of upper and lower body under mild hypothermia during operation on the thoracoabdominal aorta]

During last 7 years, we performed 24 operations on the thoracoabdominal aorta. There were 9 true and 15 dissecting aneurysms. There were two cases of ruptured aneurysm and thoracoabdominal replacement was performed as a last stage operation for total aortic replacement in 4 cases. Three cases with aortic dissection died within 30 days after surgery. Femoro-femoral bypass was used in 4 cases (1 case died of brain damage, paraplegia and MOF), left heart bypass in 5 cases and separate perfusion of upper and lower body (SPULB) under deep hypothermia in 7 cases (2 cases died of LOS and cerebrovascular accident occurred at 2 weeks after operation) and SPULB with mild hypothermia in 8 cases for circulatory support. There was one case of renal dysfunction and transient mild liver dysfunction occurred in 7 cases. There was no evidence on relationship between surgical outcome and methods of circulatory supports, but we recently prefer SPULB under mild hypothermia for thoracoabdominal surgery since intraoperative massive bleeding and cardiac arrest can be easily treated and major organs can be protected by introducing hypothermia in this perfusion technique.