title: Potential for reduction in morbidity and cost with total leucocyte control for cardiac surgery.
abstract: The economics of health care in the USA and abroad has caused a shift in the focus on therapeutic interventions that transcend issues of safety and clinical efficacy. Now, cost justification is emerging as a major consideration to influence clinical practice. This brief review of the medical literature attempts to identify leucocyte-mediated adverse reactions that develop in open-hear surgery, quantify the costs incurred to manage such reactions and infer the savings that may accrue by controlling the burden of leucocytes presented to the open-heart surgical patient using commercially available leucocyte reducing filtration technology.
authors.affiliation: Pall Corporation, East Hills, New York, USA.
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Ortolano
mesh_terms: D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics* / Q000295:instrumentation; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000191:economics / Q000209:etiology; D017722:Hospital Charges; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D007937:Leukapheresis / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation; D017708:Leukocyte Transfusion / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000191:economics* / Q000209:etiology; D008480:Mediastinitis / Q000191:economics; D018375:Neutrophil Activation; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000191:economics* / Q000209:etiology