ABSTRACT
Cardiovascular disease, principally heart disease and stroke, is the Nation’s leading killer with mortality rate of about 42% (18). Under some of the procedures pertaining to cardiovascular diseases – such as open-heart surgery, aortic aneurysm stenting procedure, grafting, and so on there are many specialized devices as well as instrumentation for reducing the mortality risks during surgery. For instance, a person with a high fat diet and other risk factors such as diabetes, smoking, and high blood pressure will develop a condition called atherosclerosis, or plaque formation in the arteries. This condition that involves the hardening and blocking of many arteries, including the coronary arteries, will go through a process called coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) to eradicate or lessen the hardening of the arteries. CABG and the repair of most cardiac conditions require the cardiothoracic surgeon to work in a bloodless and motionless environment (16). In an open-heart surgery, physicians use a cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) system to facilitate the surgery and to reduce risk. CPB provides a control environment for cardiovascular surgery by relieving the heart and lungs of their normal life sustaining functions. In this chapter, we will discuss physical and chemical properties of fluids in CPB; principles, applications and procedures of CPB.
2.2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
