Our distal aortic perfusion system in descending thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repairs

We have used heparin-bonded partial cardiopulmonary bypass to support distal aortic circulation during aortic cross-clamping. However, there were no cardiotomy reservoirs with fully reliable thromboresistance. To resolve this problem, a short-acting anticoagulant (nafamostat mesilate) was added into a cardiotomy reservoir. The present study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of our distal perfusion system. From May 1995 through the end of May 1996, 27 patients underwent descending thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repairs with this adjunct, 4 being excluded from the experiment. Twenty patients who had undergone conventional partial cardiopulmonary bypass were defined as the control group. There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in the morbidity, mortality, gas transfer, or transfusion requirements despite the fact that more complicated surgical procedures (shown by a two-fold increase in the prevalence of reoperation) were required in the group that had received the current distal perfusion adjunct the heparin-bonded group. In conclusion, our perfusion system is very effective for descending thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repairs.