Selective visceral perfusion during thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair.

PURPOSE To evaluate the effectiveness of selective visceral perfusion during repair of an thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA), we compared the postoperative renal and hepatic functions (blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, total bilirubin, glutamate pyruvate transaminase) between the two groups with and without perfusion. PATIENTS AND METHODS We operated on 52 patients with TAAA. Among them, the visceral vessels were reconstructed in 22 patients with selective visceral perfusion and in 12 patients without perfusion. The average selective perfusion time was 49.5+/-25.5 min. in the celiac and superior mesenteric arteries and 32.8+/-18.8 min. in the renal arteries. The average perfusion flow rate per each visceral vessel was 155.4+/-97.4 ml/min. RESULTS There were five hospital deaths. There was no significant difference between the groups in the postoperative value of four factors. The selective perfusion time for vessel reconstruction in the selective visceral perfusion group was significantly longer than the arterial clamp time for vessel reconstruction in the non-perfusion group (49.5+/-25.5 min. vs. 25.6+/-13.4 min.). CONCLUSION Our selective visceral perfusion method is not only beneficial for organ protection, but also provides us with the necessary time to reimplant the visceral as well as intercostal or lumbar arteries.