A HEMODILUTION TECHNIQUE FOR OPEN-HEART SURGERY: A PRELIMINARY CLINICAL REPORT.

With the extension of open-heart procedures and the increasing success of open-heart surgery, a great strain has been placed on many hospital laboratories and on the Red Cross for the maintenance of equipment and the supply of blood. In order to decrease both of these needs, hemodilution techniques combined with disposable oxygenators have been introduced. The authors have used a disposable oxygenator with low molecular weight dextran prime, along with moderate hypothermia, in a consecutive series of 15 patients operated upon for congenital and acquired heart lesions. In this consecutive series there has been one death and this could not be attributed to the perfusion technique but to the surgical procedure carried out. It is felt that this combination not only broadens the horizons of open-heart surgery but makes the procedure more readily available and safer, as well as being economical of blood donors and time.