Key Words
Aortic arch surgery - Cerebral protection techniques
Starting with the inaugural issue, we would like the AORTA journal to feature a special
section, “Poll the Editorial Board,” in which readers ask questions and the journal
provides a poll of answers from the Editorial Board. In this way, we hope to assess
the thought and practice patterns of the Editorial Board.
The question for the first issue was:
Which method of cerebral protection do you favor during aortic arch surgery?
-
Straight deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA)
-
Selective antegrade cerebral perfusion
-
Retrograde cerebral perfusion
-
DHCA or cerebral perfusion, depending on case complexity
The poll was distributed among all current members of the Editorial Board, who were
asked to submit their responses via an online survey tool. The list of Editorial Board
members can be found at the AORTA journal website (http://aorta.scienceinternational.org). The members of the Editorial Board whose practices do not lie within the scope
of this question were asked to disregard this poll. Here we present the results of
this poll.
Results of the “Poll the Editorial Board”
Twenty-nine members of the Editorial Board submitted responses through our online
survey tool. The results are presented in [Table 1] and in the pie chart in [Figure 1].
Table 1.
Responses of the Editorial Board Members
|
Favored Cerebral Protection Technique
|
No. of votes
|
Percentage
|
|
Straight DHCA
|
5
|
17%
|
|
Selective antegrade cerebral perfusion
|
13
|
45%
|
|
Retrograde cerebral perfusion
|
2
|
7%
|
|
DHCA, or cerebral perfusion depending on case complexity
|
9
|
31%
|
DHCA indicates deep hypothermic circulatory arrest.
Figure 1. Pie chart diagram illustrating the responses of the Editorial Board members to the
poll. DHCA indicates deep hypothermic circulatory arrest.
Comment
The majority of the respondents (45%) indicated their preference for selective antegrade
cerebral perfusion. However, it is interesting to note that despite the highly popularized
and publicized technique of selective antegrade cerebral perfusion, almost half of
the respondents (48%) either still use straight DHCA as a stand-alone method for cerebral
protection during most aortic arch operations (17%) or use it for some of the relatively
simpler cases of arch interventions (31%). At the same time, retrograde cerebral perfusion
is becoming increasingly less popular, with only 7% of respondents showing a preference
for this technique.
