Use of percutaneous cardiopulmonary support system with rotary blood pump in graft replacement of the descending thoracic and thoracoabdominal aorta.

Graft replacement of the descending thoracic or thoracoabdominal aorta was successfully performed in 3 patients using percutaneous cardiopulmonary bypass. Femoral inflow and outflow cannulas were inserted percutaneously after induction of anesthesia with the patient in supine position, and low flow normothermic bypass was established before thoracotomy. Next the patient was placed in a right lateral position to create an operating field. With this body position and even an almost prone position, which was sometimes necessary for easy dissection of adhesion of lung to the aneurysmal wall, the bypass flow was easily maintained adequately. The bypass circuit was coated with heparin, and the activated clotting time (ACT) was controlled to be between 150 and 200 s during the entire operating period. Percutaneous insertion of the cannulas avoided local bleeding in the groin, and the low ACT made control of hemorrhage in the operating field easy. For descending aortic surgery, heparin-coated percutaneous cardiopulmonary bypass proved to be a useful adjunctive measure.