Cognitive Impairment due to Heart Lung?

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S

scg

Active member
Joined
Feb 22, 2012
Messages
43
Location
Raleigh, NC
I recently read an article regarding cognitive impairment potentially due to the heart lung machine and wanted to know if patients had experienced this short term/long term...at all?
Will be scheduling my Mitral Valve Repair for May. Also have had one doctor say he doesn't attach the HL at the groin but at the heart. What's better?

Here's the article.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=pumphead-heart-lung-machine

51 year old male
Severe Mitral Valve Regurgitation
 
I have had 4 heart surgeries with 3 requiring the H/L machine. They were able to connect the H/L machine at the heart twice and they had to use the groin once. Most of the time they prefer to connect at the heart, but if a patient is to sick or they can't connect at the heart they use the groin. They connected through incisions in my groin because they already wanted to be able to be connect me to the by-pass machine before they cracked open my chest in case there were complications from going through all the scar tissue.

I work as a nurse so I hope that my cognition is pretty good after 4 heart surgeries. I'm ADHD, but so are a lot of people that have not been on the H/L machine.

Debbie
 
Hi scg -- I'm scheduled for mitral valve repair in May, a mini-sternotomy, with the H/L connected at the heart. Dr. Adams explained that in attaching at the groin, the blood must flow backwards and there's a slightly greater risk. His website is really, really informative -- http://www.mitralvalverepair.org. I'm sure you'll get lots of answers here as well.
 
I don't think I've noticed any cognitive impairment since surgery. I'm back to work as the Chief Financial Officer of a manufacturing company - lots of details to keep in mind, no issues.

On the other hand, I do seem to make lots of typong errers. . .
 
All good responses. Thanks. The info about slightly greater risk through the groin is good to know. As well as the possibility of future typong errers.... Nothing new in my case. :) Good luck Selma. I still haven't scheduled mine yet. Set to meet again with Glower at Duke doing a slightly less invasive surgery through the ribcage and H/L through the groin. Faster recovery, but still possibility of having to open the chest as well....which would mean double scars. Hopefully no sneezing for me.
 
I think any of my cognitive impairments have been due to advancing age -- that is, "senior moments" -- rather than any residual effect of having been on the heart/lung machine. But there is much discussion of the so-called "pumphead syndrome," resulting from the heart/lung machine. If you did a search here with some of these words, I bet you would find some past discussions. Most seem to think that any lingering effect gradually passed away.
 
It would be great to have an excuse for all of my current "cognitive impairments" but I'm hoping for an absence of pump-head.
 
I have had two OHS and both times the heart/lung was attached in my chest; not groin.

I feel I have had some cognitive change. It isn't severe and I function fine but I do not feel exactly as sharp as I was. We had a thread about two or three months ago on this subject and people were very firm in saying they felt no change. Some of the tone even sounded defensive to my ears but I am one who admits that four years out from my last OHS, I have lost a bit of the fine edge of my 'quickness'. That being said, I function absolutely perfectly, I don't work anymore so that is not a factor and truthfully, if it takes me a few seconds to find the word I am looking for, so what? If I don't think of that word, another will usually do just fine.

All Best wishes. This is truly very successful surgery and without it, we would not still be around to worry about any of it.
 
Thanks...I'll check it out. From what I can tell I wouldn't be surprised if any surgery with full anesthesia results in some short or longer term cognitive impairment. That said there are just too many factors that enter into the equation. :)
 
My friend's son has definitely had some cognitive impairment as a result of his latest heart surgery. He's gone backwards over the last year in terms of language, spatial skills, and coordination. On the other hand, he wouldn't be alive if he didn't have the surgery, so its a catch-22.

Forgot to say, he's now 5yo.
 
I didn't experience any cognitive impairment (that I can tell) and the doctors did a full chest crack on me. I wasn't even aware that such a thing happened until I read about it here.
 
I'm constantly surprised by how many details people know about their surgeries. I may be naive, but once I picked my surgeon, I let him worry about the details and trusted him to use the best approaches he could for the best outcome. So far, no complications related to the surgery.
 
I'm coming up on six months since my AVR and can't say I've noticed any decline in memory or typong ability -- both were not the greatest before the surgery. I did notice issues with drugs causing an impact on my memory, like Lisinopril and the heavy duty pain meds, but I figured that out and have moved off those and been fine since. I do like the thought of having something to blame my less than stellar memory on, but my wife of 25 years would see right through that excuse and call me on it for sure.
 
A year ago I had a hysterectomy that required general anesthesia. For about 3 months, I struggled to find the right words and did not feel cognitively "sharp". I am now 3 weeks post AVR and aneurysm repair, HL machine at heart, and do not notice - so far, at least - any of the cognitive problems I had a year ago.
karla
 
I, myself, spent an inordinate amount of time on the H/L machine during my 17 hour visit to the OR. Of that 17 hours, I don't know how long was on the machine, but I would guess/assume/conjecture probably quite a bit longer than average. I also didn't know (until this thread) about the two distinct methods, thus I don't know which I had. Suffice it to say that at 1 year out, I feel as sharp - if not better - as I did going into surgery. Not saying that I am the sharpest tool in the shed, but I (nor my spouse) have noticed any cognitive deterioration at all. YMMV...
 
Jkm7 said:
....

I feel I have had some cognitive change. It isn't severe and I function fine but I do not feel exactly as sharp as I was. ......

All Best wishes. This is truly very successful surgery and without it, we would not still be around to worry about any of it.
Click to expand...

I became forgetful, less sharp, and slower than I was. This had bothered me a lot until I recently gave in to my new cognitive deterioration. Strangely, after accepting this fact and having stopped comparing myself to how I was before, I started seeing an improvement recently. :smile2:
 
Eva said:
I became forgetful, less sharp, and slower than I was. This had bothered me a lot until I recently gave in to my new cognitive deterioration. Strangely, after accepting this fact and having stopped comparing myself to how I was before, I started seeing an improvement recently. :smile2:
Click to expand...

I have to try this.
 
I noticed cognitive issues shortly after getting home from the hospital. Struggling to find words, no attention span, asking the same questions over and over again. I was quite freaked out about this wondering how I would go back to work and if I would even remember what to do once I got there. Fortunately it started getting better after several weeks and I'd say about 6 months after it was completely gone. My Grampa who just had quadruple bypass has commented on the same thing, not being able to find words, memory gone, etc. (Fortunately I did not suffer from the "typong errers". I think that might have put me completely over the edge.) :)
 
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