The Failure of Retrograde Autologous Priming of the Cardiopulmonary Bypass Circuit to Reduce Blood Use After Cardiac Surgical Procedures

Hemodilution during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is a primary risk factor for blood transfusion in cardiac surgical patients. Priming of the CPB circuit with the patients’ own blood (retrograde autologous priming, RAP) is a technique used to limit hemodilution and reduce transfusion requirements. We