Journal of cardiothoracic and vascular anesthesia
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J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. · Jun 1997
Acetylcholine reactivity in the pulmonary artery during cardiac surgery in patients with ischemic or valvular heart disease.
During cardiopulmonary bypass, there is almost no blood flow through the pulmonary artery. Ischemia and reperfusion are known to attenuate the reaction to acetylcholine. An attenuated reactivity to acetylcholine in the pulmonary circulation after cardiopulmonary bypass was previously shown in children. The current study in adult patients was designed to analyze the change over time of acetylcholine reactivity after cardiac surgery. ⋯ These results confirm the finding of altered reactivity to acetylcholine in the pulmonary circulation after cardiopulmonary bypass. In view of the often prolonged tendency toward pulmonary hypertension observed in children, the recovery at 8 hours after surgery was unexpectedly rapid. The attenuated response to acetylcholine is most likely explained by relative ischemia in the pulmonary circulation during cardiopulmonary bypass.