Hemorrhage remains a problem in patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery. To evaluate
fibrin sealant, a completely biodegradable
hemostatic agent, three series of experiments were performed in mongrel dogs. In series I, 18 dogs had
a 7 cm interposition of knitted
Dacron (water porosity 1500 ml/min/cm2) in the descending aorta. In group A, all
prostheses were treated with
fibrin sealant and in group B by blood preclotting. Measurements of blood loss demonstrated 1.29 +/- 0.26 ml/min in group A as compared with 30.16 +/- 2.85 ml/min in group B (p less than .001). In series II, six dogs of each group were compared for thrombogenicity and platelet survival by using indium-111-labeled autologous platelets. According to Goldman et al., the thrombogenicity index was calculated. The mean thrombogenicity index for group A was 0.23 +/- 0.02 in contrast to 0.33 +/- 0.05 for group B (p greater than .05). Mean platelet survival was 5.59 +/- 0.23 days in group A in contrast to 5.34 +/- 0.05 days in group B (p greater than .05). In series III, the gluing potential was investigated by creating four types of
injuries: four dogs had an aortic
stab wound 3 to 5 mm, six dogs received
a 10 to 15 mm
stab wound to the left ventricle, seven dogs had a 3 cm
laceration of the left atrial appendage, and four dogs had bilateral division of their carotid arteries.
Wounds of the aorta and left atrial appendage were treated by partial clamping and the sole use of
fibrin sealant, the carotid arteries were repaired by four simple
sutures and
fibrin sealant, and the left ventricular
stab wounds were treated by the combined use of heterologous
collagen and
fibrin sealant without
suture.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)