[Comparison between retrograde cerebral perfusion and selective cerebral perfusion by intraoperative...

We used retrograde cerebral perfusion (RCP) to protect the brain in patients undergoing aortic arch replacement from May 1991 to July 1992. Subsequently, we have been using selective cerebral perfusion (SCP). In this study, a group of six patients undergoing RPC were compared with 5 patients undergoing SCP with regard to the intraoperative electroencepharogram (EEG) and post operative clinical course. There were no deaths in either group, but transient palsy of the right arm developed in one patient in the RCP group. The amplitude of intraoperative EEG was examined at four points: before cardiopulmonary bypass, during RCP or SCP, at 30 degrees C and at 35 degrees C during rewarming. The EEG amplitude at these four points was expressed as a ratio to the value before cardiopulmonary bypass. The ratios at these four points were 1, 0, 0.08, and 0.19 in the RCP group and 1, 0, 0.70, and 0.90 in the SCP group, respectively. In the SCP group, EEG recovered rapidly, whereas in the RCP group EEG did not recover until the completion of cardiopulmonary bypass in all but one patient. These results indicated that RCP does not provide reliable protection of the brain.