Slowly rewarming bypass patients may reduce risk of brain damage

[ken]

http://www.latimes.com/features/hea...ay03,1,4542912.story?coll=la-headlines-health

Slowly rewarming bypass patients may reduce risk of brain damage
Jane E. Allen

May 3, 2004

Most patients undergoing cardiac bypass surgery are placed on heart-lung machines that cool their blood to reduce their bodies' oxygen needs. Now researchers have found that taking an extra 10 to 15 minutes to slowly rewarm patients at the end of their surgery reduces brain overheating, lowering the risk of brain damage and memory loss.

Researchers from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., showed several years ago that patients given an extra 10 to 12 minutes to bring their body temperatures back up scored nearly one-third better on standard cognition tests six weeks after surgery.

In a new study, the researchers reported that by changing long-standing rewarming practices in recent years, Duke surgical teams were able to prevent potentially damaging overheating. The analysis of 6,334 Duke patients who underwent bypass surgery from 1993 to 2000 found that, because of the change, maximum body temperatures dropped an average of 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Even a half- to one degree of temperature can aggravate a brain that is injured," said lead study author Dr. Hilary Grocott, a cardiac anesthesiologist. He said that despite the increased awareness of the consequences of having brain temperatures spike as warmed blood is pumped into the heart and then to the brain, many hospitals continue to raise body temperatures the standard way.

Grocott presented the findings last Monday at the annual scientific sessions of the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists in Honolulu.

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[hensylee]

Dr Rich has the same article, but has one extra paragraph added. Go there and read the rest of the story - kinda scary! http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/bypasssurgery/a/prevpumphead.htm

 

[Bryan B]

I had my surgery at Duke...I wonder if they warmed me up slower? My surgery lasted over 6 hours and I have had no signs of "pumphead" since day one (I know some of you might disagree ).

Very interesting article.

 

[Granbonny]

On my operative Procedure.....Using deep Hypothermia and circulatory arrest...I think Nancy told me I was put in a deep freeze Maybe I didn't thaw out in ICC until I reached my private room.. And..yes, I had pumphead. could not talk on phone for a week or even think about computer for 2 weeks... Come to think of it..where am I?? Bonnie

 

[Rush20]

All I remember was that when they wheeled me into the operating room, it felt like a meat freezer! They placed me on the table, I exchanged some nervous idle chatter with the anesthesiologist (I know I probably spelled that wrong) and the next thing I remember was waking up with warm blankets and and gagging on the breathing tube. Nice to know they consider these types of conditions.

 

[Harpoon]

Yeah ummmm....



This is nothing new for me. =)

I've got a "mild" learning disability, mainly the inability to perform rote memory tasks. I do handle math very well unless I have a cheat sheet with formulas and other information handy for doing problem solving. I'm VERY good at remembering why things are important, concepts and ideas. But I can't remember labels or names unless I use them all the time or they're repeated over and over and over and over and over and over and over and....


It was really frustrating in grade school because I was always really good in sciences but I was terrible in math. Science at the time was based on concepts and ow particular systems worked. You didn't have to know the names for things as much because that was given during testing, you just had to explain how everything fit together and worked.

When I got into art school I went down in a blaze of glory in art history. I knew why particular pieces of art were important. I could tell you the style, what was significant, and other information regarding how the piece was put together. owever, with the exception of some VERY well known works like Michelangelo's "David" or Rodin's "Thinker", I couldn't tell you the artist or the name of the work. That required simple memorization and my brain just doesn't do that very well. Horribly frustrating.



I was "put on ice" when I was an infant and had my transposition fixed. I suspect the same thing happened (with bypass) with the VR, but I don't know for sure.