IMR Press / RCM / Volume 22 / Issue 4 / DOI: 10.31083/j.rcm2204161
Open Access Original Research
Percentage of hematocrit decrease after the initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass—clinical implications and affecting factors
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1 Department of Cardiac Surgery, Pomeranian Medical University, 70-111 Szczecin, Poland
2 Department of Medical Rehabilitation and Clinical Physiotherapy, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, 71-210 Szczecin, Poland
3 Department of Mathematics and Informatics, Adam Mickiewicz University, 61-712 Poznań, Poland
*Correspondence: jakubudzik@wp.pl (Jakub Udzik)
These authors contributed equally.
Academic Editor: Ichiro Wakabayashi
Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2021, 22(4), 1563–1568; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.rcm2204161
Submitted: 29 July 2021 | Revised: 23 August 2021 | Accepted: 7 September 2021 | Published: 22 December 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Diseases)
Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Abstract

Decrease of patient’s hematocrit level is a natural process which occurs during the initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass. To some extent it is a beneficial occurrence, but excessive hematocrit decrease can lead to many complications and increase patient’s demand for blood transfusion. In this study authors investigated the causes and clinical implications of 30% hematocrit decrease after the initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass. Retrospective analysis of 172 patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery procedures was conducted. It was concluded that 30% or greater hematocrit decrease (comparing to preoperative level) after the initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass, is associated with an increased demand for blood transfusion. The most important factors influencing hematocrit decrease after the initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass proved to be: lower BMI, female gender, more advanced age and the usage of priming fluid of higher volume and lower osmolality.

Keywords
Cardiac surgery
Hematocrit decrease
Cardiopulmonary bypass
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