Intra-ocular pressure during cardiopulmonary bypass--a comparison of crystalloid and colloid priming solutions

Raised intra-ocular pressure secondary to alterations in plasma oncotic pressure has been implicated in the development of optic neuropathy after cardiopulmonary bypass. Patients presenting for open heart surgery received either crystalloid (n = 9) or colloid (n = 10) priming solutions for cardiopulmonary bypass. No differences in intra-ocular pressure or plasma oncotic pressure occurred between the groups before the onset of cardiopulmonary bypass. Five minutes after the start of bypass the median intra-ocular pressure increased to 31 mmHg in the crystalloid group compared with 13 mmHg in the colloid group (p < 0.05). At the same time plasma oncotic pressure decreased from approximately 20 mmHg in both groups to 10.6 mmHg with crystalloid and 15.7 mmHg with colloid primed cardiopulmonary bypass solutions (p < 0.05). Over the following hour of cardiopulmonary bypass, intra-ocular pressure and plasma oncotic pressure tended to return towards their pre-cardiopulmonary bypass values. Changes in plasma oncotic pressure, through fluid shifts, may have contributed towards this unexpected increase in intra-ocular pressure with crystalloid primed cardiopulmonary bypass.