[An arch and ascending replacement for aortic arch dissection by "separate hypothermia" retrograde cerebral...

We have developed a new technique of cerebral perfusion during operations on the aortic arch. The concept of this technique is as follows. A retrograde cerebral perfusion provides a relative long time to perform the distal aortic repair, and simplifies the operation. To avoid the disadvantages by deep hypothermia, we perfused from SVC cannula with blood cooled at 10-15 degrees C, from femoral artery with blood cooled at 20-26 degrees C. A successful case using this method is as follows. A 68-year-old man was referred to our hospital for aortic arch dissection. He underwent an operation 4 weeks after onset. Graft replacement of ascending aorta and aortic arch was performed under this method. We perfused blood from SVC cannula at an internal jugular vein pressure of 30 cmH2O, and SVC perfusion flow was 600 cc/min. By this separate hypothermia perfusion, the nasopharyngeal temperature is maintained about 15 degrees C, the rectal temperature is maintained 22-24 degrees C. The duration of cerebral perfusion from SVC cannula was 125 min, but prolonged emergence from anesthesia and neurological deficit were not seen.