European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery : official journal of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Mar 2013
Custodiol versus blood cardioplegia in complex cardiac operations: an Australian experience.
A single or dual-dose strategy for myocardial protection is attractive in long operations, in avoiding the need to interrupt the procedure to re-administer cardioplegia. We hypothesized that a single administration of Bretschneider histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate (HTK) crystalloid solution (Custodiol) offers myocardial protection comparable with repeated tepid blood cardioplegia. ⋯ The use of Custodiol is convenient, simple and at least as safe as tepid blood cardioplegia for myocardial protection in complex cardiac operations. A randomized prospective comparison of myocardial protection strategies is warranted.