Abstract
The investigation examined the effect on apparent peripheral resistance of perfusing cold blood, using a double pump in patients undergoing cooling to an oesophageal temperature of 10oC over a 50-minute period. Following intracardiac surgery, rewarming took place over 50 minutes. The anaesthetic technique consisted of thiopentone fol-lowed by d-tubocurarine, with controlled ventilation using nitrous oxide and oxygen. The control of acid-base balance during hypothermia and the use of sodium bicar-bonate to control non-respiratory acidosis is discussed. Some aspects of blood rheology in the body are discussed with reference to Poiseuille's Law. Cooling produced an overall reduction in the total peripheral resistance. The reverse followed during rewarming. In the nine-months period up to June 1962, thirty-six patients had been operated on using the technique described with a mortality of 22 per cent.
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