Impaired cerebral autoregulation and elevation in plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein level during cardiopulmonary bypass surgery for CHD.

Background: Cerebrovascular reactivity monitoring has been used to identify the lower limit of pressure autoregulation in adult patients with brain injury. We hypothesise that impaired cerebrovascular reactivity and time spent below the lower limit of autoregulation during cardiopulmonary bypass will result in hypoperfusion injuries to the brain detectable by elevation in serum glial fibrillary acidic protein level.

Methods: We designed a multicentre observational pilot study combining concurrent cerebrovascular reactivity and biomarker monitoring during cardiopulmonary bypass.