title: Systemic hyperkalemia for cardiac arrest on CPB with or without cross-clamping.
abstract: Myocardial protection may be compromised in situations with a patent left internal mammary artery (LIMA) graft or an unclamped aorta. Because of collateral coronary blood flow, electrical arrest may not be achieved. Currently, hypothermia is often used to augment myocardial protection and provide cardiac arrest in these situations. We report a simple, novel technique of systemic hyperkalemia during cardiopulmonary bypass to achieve rapid and complete electromechanical arrest. By providing complete diastolic arrest, uniform myocardial protection is ensured.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiac Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Tharumenthiran
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ramanathan
authors.forename: Prem
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shekar
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.forename: Ravi K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Ghanta
authors.forename: Sary F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Aranki
authors.forename: Lawrence H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Cohn
authors.forename: Edward P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Frederick Y
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000601:surgery*; D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass / Q000379:methods*; D003971:Diastole; D005260:Female; D006324:Heart Arrest, Induced / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D006947:Hyperkalemia; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013525:Surgical Instruments