Alteration of red cell deformability during extracorporeal bypass: membrane v bubble oxygenator.

Red cell deformability is essential for normal microcirculation, since the red cell is greater in diameter than the caliber of small capillaries. Red cell filtration rate (RFR) was measured using a 5 microns nucleopore polycarbonate filter as an index of red cell deformability before, during, and after two hours of extracorporeal circulation for coronary artery bypass surgery, with a bubble oxygenator (eight patients) or a hollow fiber membrane oxygenator (14 patients). RFR decreased steadily and significantly during bypass in the bubble oxygenator group. After the start of bypass, RFR was significantly higher at all measurement intervals in the membrane oxygenator group as compared with the bubble oxygenator group. It can be postulated that significantly impaired red cell deformability caused by the bubble oxygenator is attributed to mechanical damage secondary to a huge blood-gas interface, and possibly to neutrophil-mediated oxygen free radical formation due to complement activation. Results indicate that the hollow fiber membrane oxygenator is superior to the bubble oxygenator in maintaining red cell deformability.