The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Dec 1976
Individual responses to heparinization for extracorporeal circulation.
It has been proposed that wide variations in individual response to heparin lead to deficiencies in popular heparinization protocols for extracorporeal circulation (ECC). Thirty-nine patients undergoing open cardiac operations with ECC were anticoagulated with the heparinization protocol in use at St. Thomas' Hospital. ⋯ The total dose of heparin declined because BART monitoring allowed elimination of incremental heparin doses up to 180 minutes of ECC. Adequate reversal with protamine was achieved in all patients regardless of response to herparin. Alternative approaches for heparinization for ECC can be developed with the aid of rapid tests of the intraoperative coagulation state.