Cerebral protection for aortic arch surgery: deep hypothermia.

The technical aspects of arch surgery have evolved considerably during the last 2 decades. The use of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest has been embraced by many cardiac surgeons to approach aortic arch aneurysms around the world. The branched graft technique that we have been using since the late 1990s has improved surgical outcomes and simplified the treatment considerably. We describe our technique of total arch replacement by using deep hypothermia and selective cerebral perfusion in aortic arch surgery.