HEPARINIZED whole blood was the fluid most early surgeons preferred for priming the heart-lung machine in open-heart surgery. The major disadvantage of using heparinized whole blood prime is the increased load this imposes upon the blood bank and the lack of flexibility in scheduling urgent cases or cancelling the less urgent for whom blood has already been obtained. Acid-citrate-dextrose (ACD) whole blood, with its greater ease of storage, has appeared to be a satisfactory priming fluid in several studies.1-10 The purpose of this report is to compare two groups of 27 patients who underwent cardiopulmonary bypass; one group with ACD whole blood prime, the other with heparinized whole blood prime.
Method
Over a 27-month period, 27 patients underwent cardiopulmonary bypass utilizing ACD whole blood in the prime. Two of the patients had 50% partial dilution glucose-water primes and in these a disposable oxygenator unit was used. The remainder of