The Hemodynamic Effect of Total Liquid Ventilation in Piglets With Reduced Cardiac Function After Cardiopulmonary Bypass

Total liquid ventilation (TLV) is a promising treatment for severe lung injury and heart resuscitation. We aim to investigate the hemodynamic effect of TLV in piglets with preexisting cardiac dysfunction. After onset of cardiopulmonary dysfunction induced by cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), piglets were randomly treated with TLV (n = 6) or conventional gas ventilation (n = 6) for 240 min. Hemodynamics was monitored before and at a 30-min interval after CPB. CPB with cardiac arrest resulted in significant decrease in cardiac index (CI) (96.19 ± 6.74 vs. 48.58 ± 3.96 mL/min/kg, P < 0.001) and increase of pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) (1123.38 ± 198.97 vs. 8180.62 ± 1041.35 dyne·s/cm5, P <  0.001). Compared with conventional gas ventilation, there was no further significant decrease of CI or increase of PVR during TLV throughout the experiment. No significant difference was observed on other hemodynamic variables including heart rate, mean arterial pressure, mean pulmonary arterial pressure, and central venous pressure between both groups. The fluctuation of mean arterial blood pressure was 3.95 ± 1.68 mm Hg during TLV. No evidence of fluorothorax or cardiac tamponade was observed in either group. We conclude that TLV does not further impair hemodynamics in piglets with preexisting cardiac dysfunction immediately after CPB.