Non-invasive assessment of cerebral oxygen metabolism following surgery of congenital heart disease.

Objectives: Cerebral protection is a major issue in the treatment of infants with complex congenital heart disease. We tested a new device combining tissue spectrometry and laser Doppler flowmetry for non-invasive determination of cerebral oxygen metabolism following cardiac surgery in infants.

Methods: We prospectively measured regional cerebral oxygen saturation cSO 2 and microperfusion (rcFlow) in 43 infants 12-24 h following corrective ( n  = 30) or palliative surgery ( n  = 13) of congenital heart defects.