Cerebral perfusion protection in newborns after surgical correction of aortic coarctation with aortic arch hypoplasia

Objective. To compare the rate of neurologic complications in infants with aortic coarctation and aortic arch hypoplasia undergoing aortic arch repair under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest or full-flow perfusion with double arterial cannulation. Material and methods. This pilot single-center simple blinded prospective study assessed the early postoperative outcomes in infants with aortic arch obstruction. Patients underwent on-pump repair under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (I group, 20 pa-tients) or full-flow perfusion with double arterial cannulation (II group, 20 patients). Results. In-hospital mortality was 5% (1 patient) in each group (p>0.05). Neurologic complications occurred in 14 (70%) patients of the 1^st group and 6 patients (30%) of the 2^nd group (p=0.025). The only significant risk factor was head tissue saturation accord-ing to near-infrared spectroscopy. Each percent decreased the risk of neurologic event by 6%. Conclusion. Aortic arch repair under full-flow perfusion reduces the rate of neurologic events in infants compared to deep hypo-thermic circulatory arrest. Head tissue saturation was the risk factor of neurologic complications. Each percent decreased the risk of neurologic event by 6%.