Full Description
This publication reviews current transfusion practice in cardiac surgery. It begins with an overview of the pathophysiology of cardiopulmonary bypass surgery, the causes and mechanisms of blood loss, and a summary of methods for rapid diagnostic evaluation and therapy. Chapters that follow cover strategies to limit homologous blood use in surgery; the case for utilizing fresh blood in open-heart surgery; and ends with the results of a recent US survey of transfusion practices for patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery as well as guidelines for homologous red blood cell transfusions in coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
