[A response to the correction of congenital heart diseases in infants of the first year of life under extracorporeal circulation]

Abstract

Examination of 36 infants of the first year of life, who had been operated on under extracorporeal circulation, revealed the activation of the monocytic cellular pool. This reaction was accompanied by an increase in the content of activated HLA-DR-positive cells. Limitation of the monocytic test via apoptotic mechanisms was inadequate. The control children undergoing cardiac surgery without extracorporeal circulation showed the same trend in the number of monocytic cells, which counts in favor of the fact that surgical injury is just a trigger of their activation. Extracorporeal circulation prolongs these changes to 3-4 postoperative days.