Leakage across hollow-fibre membranes in oxygenators: a pilot study.
The purpose of this study was to create an in vitro system to quantify the fluid loss over two different types of hollow-fibre membrane oxygenators. In the first stage of the study, the circuit was primed with 0.9% NaCl and the line pressure was 200 mmHg; in the second stage, the line pressure was 400 mmHg. The experiment was repeated using bovine blood. A clear difference (p < 0.005) was found in the first stage, accumulating to 47.46 ml (SD 0.41) in the Capiox-SX group and 72.33 ml (SD 3.77) in the Univox group after 4 h. This difference persisted when using bovine blood. Surprisingly, no differences in volume loss occurred when the line pressure was increased to 400 mmHg. In conclusion, leakage in hollow-fibre microporous polypropylene membrane oxygenators can be quantified and the amount of leakage appears to be dependent on the type of membrane and the manufacturing process.
Department of Extracorporeal Circulation, Academic Hospital Maastricht, The Netherlands.
C
C
Visser
D S
DS
de Jong
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D015199:Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011143:Polyvinyl Chloride
D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D011143:Polyvinyl Chloride