title: Thoracic aortic operations: management of maldistribution of arterial flow during cardiopulmonary bypass.
abstract: On three occasions during operations for aortic aneurysm involving the ascending aorta it was noted that upon the release of the aortic clamp the grafted segment remained collapsed, indicating very little or no flow reaching the lumen of the reconstructed aorta. This was promptly and successfully remedied in 2 patients by perfusing the graft directly with a pediatric arterial catheter attached to a pump head while the femoral arterial line maintained systemic arterial inflow. This simple, safe, and highly effective technique adds to the surgeon's repertoire to manage yet another intriguing intraoperative development during thoracic aortic operations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular-Thoracic Surgery, Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Najafi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Veeragandham
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000601:surgery*; D017545:Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic / Q000601:surgery*; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass; D003250:Constriction; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged