Abstract
We evaluated whether use of a cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) circuit coated with heparin decreased coagulation and fibrinolysis. Thirty patients who were to undergo cardiac surgery were chosen and assigned to a group for which an uncoated or coated circuits were used. The activated clotting time was kept at 400 seconds or more during CPB. We measured the plasma concentrations of thrombin-antithrombinIll (TAT), fibrinopeptide A (FPA), antithrombin III (AT-III) α2 plasmin inhibitor-plasmin complex (PIC), and D-dimer (DD). Blood samples were collected first before the operation and 10 more times up to 24h after CPB ended. TAT and FPA levels increased in both groups, but during CPB, the increase tended to be smaller in both groups, and FPA did not increase in the group treated with use of the coated circuit. PIC and DD levels increased during CPB in both groups. With the coated circuit, the increase was significantly smaller than with the uncoated circuit during and after CPB. We concluded that the coated circuit reduced the activation of coagulation and fibrinolysis during and after CPB, and that use of the circuit is beneficial to patients undergoing cardiac surgery.
