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Departments of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Clinical Neurophysiology, Academic Hospital Maastricht, Maastricht, the Netherlands
Accepted for publication January 22, 2009.
* Address correspondence to Dr Sauren, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Academic Hospital Maastricht, P. Debyelaan 25, Maastricht, 6229HX, the Netherlands (Email: l.sauren{at}ctc.unimaas.nl).
Purpose: Perioperative cerebral microemboli in cardiac surgery are associated with postoperative neurologic complications. The EmBlocker (Neurosonix Ltd, Rehovot, Israel), a newly developed device should be positioned against the ascending aorta, and it produces an ultrasonic force expected to divert microemboli away from the cerebral vasculature and reduce cerebral emboli.
Description: Twenty-one consecutive patients, undergoing a valve procedure, were enrolled into this nonrandomized pilot study. The EmBlocker (Neurosonix Ltd) was positioned in 11 consecutive patients and activated for 1 minute (1.5 W/cm2) during seven selected aortic manipulations and for 10 minutes (0.5 W/cm2) intermittently after cross-clamp removal. Transcranial Doppler-based quantification of microembolic signals was performed in all patients.
Evaluation: The use of the EmBlocker showed a significant overall reduction of the cerebral microembolic signals of 53%.
Conclusions: The use of the EmBlocker during valve surgeries is associated with a reduction of perioperative cerebral microembolic signals. This new technology holds the potential to lower the risk of postoperative neurologic complications.
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