Sustained Total All-Region (STAR) Perfusion: An Optimized Perfusion Strategy for Norwood Reconstruction.

Early iterations of the Norwood procedure used aortic cross-clamping, myocardial arrest, and, sometimes, deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. The resulting hypothermia and prolonged ischemia caused frequent cardiac, neurologic, renal, and other end-organ dysfunctions. Our group describes a novel technique, sustained total all-region (STAR) perfusion, which circumvents these issues by providing continuous perfusion to the head, heart, and coronaries at temperatures of 32-34°C.

In Vitro Evaluation of Flow Distribution in All-Region Perfusion during the Norwood Operation.

Continuous all-region perfusion has the potential to reduce total body ischemia during the Norwood procedure. This technique involves placing cannulas in the innominate artery, descending aorta, and native aortic root, thus providing continuous flow to the whole body at mild hypothermia (32-34°C) during the entire operation. However, the cannulation strategy in this approach must be optimized to achieve adequate flow rates to all vascular beds.

Cardiopulmonary Bypass Strategy for a Cyanotic Child With Hemoglobin SC Disease.

Hemoglobin SC (HbSC) disease is a hemoglobinopathy that may produce sickling under conditions of hypoxemia, dehydration, and acidosis. We present a case of HbSC disease and tricuspid atresia, type IB. We describe management by cardiopulmonary bypass CPB using exchange transfusion at initiation of bypass and fractionation of collected blood, allowing platelet and plasma apheresis, as an option for patients unable to undergo this procedure off pump.

Venous line filtration: a novel technique for cases involving inferior vena caval and right atrial tumor and associated thrombus: a two-case series.

Two patients are presented with right atrial tumors, who were considered to be at risk for tumor thrombus migration down the venous line into the cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) circuit during surgical excision, which may lead to compromised or interrupted venous drainage. An arterial line filter was placed in the venous line to capture any material that might become dislodged and embolize into the circuit. Vacuum-assisted venous drainage, at approximately -50 mmHg, was used to overcome any resistance caused by the filter in the venous line.

Evaluation of a preprimed microporous hollow-fiber membrane for rapid response neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Delays in initiating extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in the critically ill pediatric patient may lead to adverse outcomes. Maintaining a primed ECMO circuit can considerably reduce the initiation time. The predominant concerns precluding this practice are a decrease in oxygenator efficiency due to the saturation of microporous hollow fibers and compromised sterility when the oxygenator has been primed for 30 days.