BACKGROUND Hydroxyethyl starches (HES) with lower impact on blood coagulation but longer intravascular persistence are of clinical interest. The current study aimed to investigate in vivo the isolated effect of molecular weight on blood coagulation during progressive acute normovolemic hemodilution. METHODS Twenty-four pigs were normovolemically hemodiluted up to a total exchange of 50 ml . k...

Fluid replacement after hemorrhage usually results in hemodilution. Hemodilution leads to increased cerebral blood flow, which is known to be beneficial to the outcome of ischemic brain damage. However, the effect of hemodilution may be different in patients with head injuries and increased intracranial pressure (ICP). The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of normovolemic hemodilutio...

To the Editor:—Acute normovolemic hemodilution (ANH) causes a reduction in arterial oxygen content because of reduced hemoglobin concentration. The primary compensatory mechanism during ANH is an increase in cardiac output to maintain systemic oxygen delivery. Therefore, the lower limit of an acceptable hemoglobin concentration is related to how low hemoglobin can be reduced without jeopardizin...

UNLABELLED Quantitative changes of hemostasis during hemodilution remain unclear. With the increasing popularity of artificial blood substitutes (ABS), which solely provide oxygen-transport capacity, this issue becomes even more complex. We developed a mathematical model to quantitatively analyze hemostasis during hemodilution and validated it by recalculating patient data. We calculated and co...

BACKGROUND The flaps used in reconstructive surgery are prone to ischemia and hypoxia, which imply a considerable risk of wound-healing complications. During normovolemic hemodilution, the oxygenation may further deteriorate because of the lack of erythrocytes or improve because of increased microcirculatory blood flow. The aim of this study was to investigate the net effect of normovolemic hem...