Risk of replacement of descending aorta with a standardized left heart bypass technique.

Replacement of the descending aorta for aneurysms (51%) and dissection (49%) was performed in 132 patients with a highly standardized left heart vortex-pump bypass. No adjuncts other than staged aortic clamping and intercostal artery reconnection were used to reduce spinal cord injury in extensive involvement. Four patients (3%) died early, two of cardiac cause, and nine (7%) died late. Complications of vital organ function occurred in eight patients, two having reversible renal failure and six spinal cord injury that was permanent in three (2.3%). Cord injury occurred only in replacement beyond thoracic segment 8 and could not be completely avoided despite distal intercostal artery reconnection in two cases; in the other four cases such vessels either did not appear worth reconnecting or were sacrificed in emergency operations. We conclude that left heart bypass effectively unloads the proximal circulation during aortic occlusion while maintaining adequate perfusion of distal vital organs as evidenced by low rates of early mortality and renal failure. The remaining risk of spinal cord damage may be lowered by more aggressive reconnection of all distal intercostal arteries and by extending the permissible cord ischemic period by means of hypothermia.