Jugular bulb temperature compared with non-invasive temperatures and cerebral arteriovenous oxygen saturation differences during open heart surgery.

Limited information is available about the correlation between cerebral temperature and routine temperature measurements during cardiopulmonary bypass in infants. Nasopharyngeal, tympanic membrane and rectal temperatures were compared with jugular bulb temperature in ten infants operated on with moderate or deep hypothermia. The cerebral arteriovenous saturation differences were correlated with the temperatures at the four measurement sites. The jugular bulb and nasopharyngeal temperatures showed the most rapid response during cooling and rewarming. The tympanic temperature response varied in an unpredictable way. Rectal temperature, which was the target for rewarming, lagged behind during both cooling and rewarming. Overwarming at the end of cardiopulmonary bypass, seen as jugular bulb and nasopharyngeal temperatures exceeding 38 degrees C, was common after deep hypothermia. A high correlation was found between the cerebral arteriovenous oxygen saturation differences and the jugular bulb temperature (r = 0.81) and the nasopharyngeal and the tympanic temperature (r = 0.79), whereas the correlation with rectal temperature was weaker (0.66).