Changes in cerebral oxygen saturation and haemoglobin concentration during paediatric cardiac surgery

Abstract

Although near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) enables bedside assessment of cerebral oxygenation, it provides little information on the cause of deoxygenation. The authors aimed to investigate the changes in cerebral oxygenation and haemoglobin concentration and their associations during paediatric cardiac surgery in order to elucidate the physiology underlying cerebral deoxygenation. An observational retrospective study on 399 patients who underwent paediatric cardiac surgery was conducted. With use of NIRS, cerebral oxygen saturation as expressed by tissue oxygen index (TOI) before and after surgery, concentration changes in oxygenated haemoglobin (Δ[HbO2]) and deoxygenated haemoglobin (Δ[HHb..