The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 29, 57-62, Copyright © 1980 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Comparison of nonpulsatile and pulsatile extracorporeal circulation on renal cortical blood flow
JD Sink, WR Chitwood Jr, RC Hill and AS Wechsler
Radioactive microspheres were used to compare renal cortical blood flow
with pulsatile and nonpulsatile extracorporeal perfusion in mongrel dogs.
No difference was found in total renal cortical flow or in flow
distribution using pulsatile compared with nonpulsatile perfusion when mean
perfusion pressure was held constant at a high (80 mm Hg) or low (50 mm Hg)
level. Although the present investigation does not resolve the question of
whether pulsatile perfusion has advantages over nonpulsatile perfusion in
maintaining renal function, the data indicate that any differences between
the two techniques must be explained by a mechanism other than increased
total cortical blood flow or by redistribution of cortical flow.