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Book

Retrograde Cardioplegia

In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
.
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Book

Retrograde Cardioplegia

Joseph D. Kamassai et al.
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Excerpt

Heart disease represents a significant health problem and a leading cause of death worldwide. In 2016, nearly 300000 patients underwent cardiac surgery in the United States alone. For a majority of these procedures, surgeons require an empty heart to operate on via the use of cardiopulmonary bypass (the "heart and lung machine"). To ensure the protection of the heart during cardiopulmonary bypass, administration and even distribution of cardioplegia solution to the myocardium is imperative. To accomplish this, a cardioplegia solution can be given anterograde, retrograde, or both. This article focuses on the relevant anatomy, applications, and complications of retrograde cardioplegia for cardiac surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Joseph Kamassai declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: David Lowery declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

References

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