Failure of components integrated into the cardiopulmonary bypass circuit, although rare, can bring about catastrophic results. One of these components is the heat exchanger of the membrane oxygenator. In this compartment, unsterile water from the heater cooler device is separated from the sterile blood by stainless steel, aluminum, or by polyurethane. These areas are glued or welded to keep the...

Membrane artificial lungs (oxygenators) are used in cardiopulmonary surgery as well as, some cases, severe lung disease to support the natural by means of ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation). The oxygen and carbon dioxide transfer rates any oxygenator usually assessed considering several blood gas parameters, such saturation, hemoglobin concentration, partial pressure dioxide, bicarbonat...

1124 T ms PAPER is a general review of the development of the artificial heart-lung to facilitate open-heart surgery. At the close of World War II many centers began investigating the possibility of total cardiac bypass. Oven the past decade, pump oxygenerators of various types have become popular and recent clinical successes throughout the world have given further impetus to the study of prob...

In cardiac surgical patients we investigated the effects of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) with a hollow fiber membrane oxygenator on blood clotting measured by thromboelastography (TEG). We found only a minimal change in the strength of blood clot described either by the TEG parameter MA (maximum amplitude) or by the shear modulus G calculated from MA. After CPB there was also a significant tend...

A 56-year-old man receiving mechanical circulatory support via a biventricular assist device suffered an airway emergency secondary to bleeding into the airway. An improvised solution to gain control of the airway in the short term was devised, and an oxygenator was inserted into the circuit, providing an alternative means of gas exchange while definitive control of the airway was achieved. Thi...

We thank Mr. Herbst for his comments and review of our article “Air transmission comparison of the Affinity Fusion oxygenator with an integrated arterial filter to the Affinity NT oxygenator with a separate arterial filter.” We designed this in vitro study to answer the question of whether the Fusion oxygenator with its integrated arterial filter was as safe as our clinically used Affinity NT o...

Background Patients referred to transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) present with multiple risk factors for intraprocedural complications. Case Description We describe a TAVI procedure with sudden hemodynamic collapse and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Therefore, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation cannulas were immediately implanted via vessels of the groin. A Y-connector was inserte...