Intraoperative Application of Intraaortic Balloon Counterpulsation Determined by Clinical Monitoring of the Endocardial Viability Ratio

Abstract

Persistent unrecognized subendocardial ischemia with development of subendocardial necrosis is a major cause of patient death following cardiopulmonary bypass. The lesion is caused by a discrepancy between the oxygen needs of subendocardial muscle and the available blood supply. If sole reliance is placed upon monitoring conventional vital signs, the more subtle factors contributing to decreased blood flow may go unrecognized. Reported studies have confirmed that the adequacy of subendocardial perfusion can be predicted by calculating the supply/demand ratio, defined as the ratio of the diastolic pressure-time index (DPTI) divided by the systolic pressure-time index (TTI). An analog computer was designed and built that measures the area under the systolic and diastolic component, calculates the DPTI/TTI ratio, and digitally displays the result as the endocardial viability ratio (EVR). The EVR was used to determine the adequacy of left ventricular subendocardial blood flow in 64 consecutive patients undergoing cardiac operations. Unidirectional intraaortic balloon counterpulsation (IABC) was utilized in 14 patients with 9 long-term survivors. The difference in mean EVR between survivors and nonsurvivors at the initiation of balloon support was statistically significant. Early application of unidirectional IABC when subendocardial ischemia persists following open cardiac procedures may prevent deterioration to subendocardial necrosis with subsequent morbidity or mortality.