Journal of cardiac surgery
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In this article, the hemodynamic, humoral, and immunological perturbations following brain death (BD) are going to be discussed in a stepwise manner. ⋯ Delineation of the mechanisms responsible for donor heart dysfunction (DHD) would be presented. Furthermore, an attempt would be made to apply this knowledge into the clinical practice in order to increase the suitability of donor hearts for transplantation.
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It is well known by now that during open heart surgery many detrimental factors are involved in lung injury. The influence mainly of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), anesthesia, hypothermia, operation itself, as well as medication and transfusion, can cause a diffuse injury in the lungs, which most often leads to a postoperative pulmonary edema and abnormal gas exchange. ⋯ In this review we highlight the possible pathophysiological mechanisms implicated in the observed postoperative lung dysfunction.