Hemolysis in different centrifugal pumps.

Different types of centrifugal pumps cause different amounts of hemolysis based on shear stress and blood exposure time. However, the hemolytic characteristics of centrifugal pumps in each clinical condition are not always clear. We compared the hemolytic characteristics of one cone-type centrifugal pump (Medtronic BioMedicus BP-80) and 2 impeller-type centrifugal pumps (Nikkiso HMS-12 and Terumo Capiox) under experimental conditions simulating their use in cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and percutaneous cardiopulmonary support (PCPS) as well as their use as left ventricular assist devices (LVADs). The normalized indexes of hemolysis (NIHs; grams free plasma hemoglobin per 100 L blood pumped) during use as LVADs were not significantly different among the 3 pumps. The BP-80 pump produced almost 3-fold more hemolysis than the HMS-12 and Capiox pumps during CPB, 3- to 4-fold more hemolysis during ECMO, and 5.5-fold more hemolysis during PCPS. The 2 impeller-type centrifugal pumps will therefore cause less hemolysis under high flow, high pressure difference (as in CPB) and low flow, high pressure difference (as in ECMO and PCPS) conditions than the cone-type pump.