Hypothermia and cerebral protection strategies in aortic arch surgery: a comparative effectiveness analysis from the STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Hypothermic circulatory arrest is essential to aortic arch surgery, although consensus regarding optimal cerebral protection strategy remains lacking. We evaluated the current use and comparative effectiveness of hypothermia/cerebral perfusion (CP) strategies in aortic arch surgery. METHODS: Using the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Database, cases of aortic arch surgery with hypothermic circulatory arrest from 2011 to 2014 were categorized by hypothermia strategy—deep/profound (D/P; < 0.01); there was no significant difference in composite outcome between the remaining strategies (D/P + ACP, D/P + RCP, L-M + ACP, L-M + RCP and H-M + ACP). CONCLUSIONS: In a comparative effectiveness study of cerebral protection strategies for aortic arch repair, strategies without adjunctive CP, including the most commonly utilized strategy of straight D/P hypothermia, appeared inferior to those utilizing CP. There was no clearly superior strategy among remaining techniques, and randomized trials are needed to define best practice.