Selective cerebral perfusion with aortic cannulation and short-term hypothermic circulatory arrest in aortic arch reconstruction

Background: The deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) technique has been used in aortic arch and isthmus hypoplasia for many years. However, with the demonstration of the deleterious effects of prolonged DHCA, selective cerebral perfusion (SCP) has started to be used in aortic arch repair. For SCP, perfusion via the innominate artery route is generally preferred (either direct innominate artery cannulation or re-routing of the cannula in the aorta is used). Herein, we describe our technique and the result of arch reconstruction in combination with selective cerebral and myocardial perfusion (SCMP) and short-term total circulatory arrest (TCA) (5-10 min) through ascending aortic cannulation. Methods: Thirty-seven cases with aortic arch and isthmus hypoplasia accompanying cardiac defects were operated on with SCMP and short TCA in Baskent University Istanbul Research and Training Hospital between January 2007 and Sep 2012. There were 17 cases with ventricular septal defect (VSD)-coarctation with aortic arch hypoplasia (CoAAH), 4 cases of transposition of the great arteries-VSD-CoAAH, 4 cases of Taussing Bing Anomaly-CoAAH, 2 cases complete atrioventricular canal defect-CoAAH, 3 cases single ventricle-CoAAH, 3 cases of type A interruption-VSD, 2 subvalvular aortic stenosis-CoAAH and 2 cases of isolated CoAAH. The aorta was cannulated in the middle of the ascending aorta in all cases. The cross-clamp was applied to the aortic arch distal to either the innominate artery or the left carotid artery. In addition, a side-biting clamp was applied to the descending aorta. The aorta between these two clamps was reconstructed with gluteraldehyde-treated autogeneous pericardium, using SCMP. The proximal arch and distal ascending aorta reconstructions were carried out under short TCA. Results: The mean age of the patients was 2.5±2 months. The mean cardiopulmonary bypass and cross-clamp times were 144±58 and 43±27 minutes, respectively. The mean SCMP and descending aorta ischemia times were 22.6±4.8 and 27±6.3 minutes, respectively. Mean TCA time was 7.6±2.1 minutes (min: 4, max 10 min). The mean in-hospital stay time was 8.6±1.9 days. None of the cases operated with this technique had neurological defects. The mortality rate was 2.7% (1 patient). Conclusion: SCMP with aortic cannulation and short TCA (under 10 minutes) in aortic reconstruction is safe and practical in this high-risk patient group.