Pediatric Myocardial Protection With Potassium Cardioplegia

Pediatric Myocardial Protection; Large Volume Potassium Cardioplegia Advantageous Over Small Volume Potassium Cardioplegia: Where do we Stand?

The advances in cardiac surgery and anesthesia for pediatric patients planned for repair of congenital heart disease encourage us to discuss problems that occur during this surgery especially during Cardiopulmonary Bypass (CPB). Cardiopulmonary Bypass induces a damaging systemic inflammatory response, in addition to a myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) as a result of cessation and re-initiation of coronary artery circulation

After approval of the local ethics committee of Assiut University and obtaining written informed consent from parents or guardians of all patients, 60 patients with congenital heart disease will be included. Patients will be randomly allocated into three groups

Inclusion Criteria

• Scheduled cardiac surgery requiring cardioplegic arrest with expected cross clamp time>45 minutes.
• Hemodynamic stability.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Previous cardiac surgery.
• Urgent or emergent cases.
• Any known allergies to components of either cardioplegia solutions.