Successful management of complex open heart surgery in a patient with Child-Pugh class C liver cirrhosis: report of a case.

Open heart surgery in patients with Child-Pugh class C liver cirrhosis has a high mortality rate and is generally considered to be contraindicated. A patient with liver cirrhosis (Child-Pugh class C) underwent mandatory complex open heart surgery due to severe heart failure. The perioperative management, including the prophylactic use of intraaortic balloon pumping to increase the hepatic blood flow and the early initiation of continuous veno-venous hemodialysis to avoid hepatic congestion, enabled the patient to survive.