Comparison of washed blood and oxygenator whole blood as vehicles for sanguinous multidose cardioplegia.

The effects of washed blood or oxygenator-traumatized whole blood as vehicles for sanguinous cardioplegia were studied utilizing the isolated blood-perfused dog heart preparation. Hearts were subjected to 2 hr of potassium-induced arrest at 27 degrees C followed by 90 min of normothermic reperfusion. Washed blood cardioplegia (n = 7) contained blood washed thrice with saline while oxygenator blood cardioplegia (n = 6) contained whole blood which had been exposed to an extracorporeal circuit for 30 to 45 min. Cardioplegic solutions were administered at a perfusion pressure of 100 mm Hg every 15 min during arrest. While the arrest-reperfusion sequence caused minor variations in the mechanical, metabolic, and biochemical parameters tested, generally insignificant differences were found to exist between groups. Differences in coronary washout PCO2 appeared to be due to inherent differences between the two cardioplegic solutions. Thus, while washing blood may be thought to be beneficial and whole blood from the extracorporeal circuit may be theorized to have a deleterious effect on the myocardium, excellent recovery of mechanical function was observed with both cardioplegic solutions. The present study suggests that it is unnecessary to wash the sanguinous cardioplegic solution obtained from the cardiopulmonary circuit.