ABSTRACT
The aim of this study to evaluated blood coagulation profiles in 19 patients undergoing open-heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). The patients were assigned to one of two groups, according to the type of oxygenator that was used: group A - membrane oxygenator (n=9); group B - bublle oxygenator (n=10). The blood samples for analysis of the clotting time (CT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), prothrombin activity (PA), fibrinogen and platelet count were drawn at T0(pre-CPB) and T1(20 min after total neutralizing dose of protamine). A significant decrease in PA was observed in groups A and B (p less than 0.0001), with no significant differences between groups. The platelet count also decreased in both groups during CPB (p less then 0.0001), but no difference was observed between bubble and membrane oxygeenator patients. The other coagulation parameters were not affected significantly during CPB. This study shows that CPB with membrane or bubble oxygenator systems causes similar decreases in PA and platelet count