Control of Body Fluids in Extracorporeal Circulation Using a Hemofilter

Abstract

We have incorporated a hemofilter in the ECC circuit. The hemofilter is made of polyacrylonitril membrane hollow-fiber tubes of 200μ in inner diameter. The membrane is 50μ in thickness.
The effective membrane surface is 1.1m². In-vitro studis, pressure drop was below 100mmHg at Ht 20-35% and Q/B 50-100mL/min and filtrate rate was 36-44mL/min. In clinical studies, this series was divided into 2 groups according to whether the hemofilter was used during EC C(group I 10 cases) or not (group II 10 cases). In group I it was easy to preserve the proper hematocrit value of the perfusate. Additionally the whole blood transfusion was diminished by 200mL during ECC comparing with the group II. The hemofilter yield 1291±176mL of filtrate, and potassium ion (6.12mEq) and sodium ion( 158mEq) were filtrated out during ECC. Therefore potassium content was more stable in using hemofilter than in the group II.