The effects of conventional extracorporeal circulation versus miniaturized extracorporeal circulation on microcirculation during cardiopulmonary bypass-assisted coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

OBJECTIVES To reduce the complications associated with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) during cardiac surgery, many modifications have been made to conventional extracorporeal circulation systems. This trend has led to the development of miniaturized extracorporeal circulation systems. Cardiac surgery using conventional extracorporeal circulation systems has been associated with significantly reduced microcirculatory perfusion, but it remains unknown whether this could be prevented by an mECC system.