Combined femoral and axillary perfusion strategy for Stanford type a aortic dissection repair

BACKGROUND: The optimal cannulation strategy in surgery for Stanford type A aortic dissection is critical to patient survival but remains controversial. Different cannulation strategies have their own advantages and drawbacks during cardiopulmonary bypass. Our centre used a combined femoral and axillary perfusion strategy for the surgical treatment of type A aortic dissection. The purpose of this study was to review and clarify the clinical outcome of femoral artery cannulation combined with axillary artery cannulation for the treatment of Stanford type A aortic dissection. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study that included 327 patients who were surgically treated for type A aortic dissection in our institution from January 2017 to June 2019. Femoral and axillary artery cannulation was used to establish cardiopulmonary bypass in patients with type A aortic dissection. The demographic data, surgical data, and clinical results of the patients were calculated. RESULTS: Femoral artery combined with axillary artery cannulation was technically successful in 327 patients. The cardiopulmonary bypass time was 141.60 ± 34.89 min, and the selective antegrade cerebral perfusion time was 14.94 ± 2.76 min. The early mortality rate was 3.06%. The incidence of permanent neurologic dysfunction was 0.92%. Sixteen patients had postoperative renal insufficiency, and five patients had liver failure. CONCLUSION: Femoral artery combined with axillary artery cannulation for type A aortic dissection can significantly improve the prognosis of patients, especially in terms of cerebral protection, and can reduce the occurrence of adverse malperfusion syndrome and neurological complications.