Background: Neurologic injury is common after cardiac surgery and disruption of the blood brain barrier (BBB) has been proposed as a contributing factor. We sought to study BBB characteristics in a rodent model of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA).
Methods: Adult rats were subjected to CPB/DHCA or to sham surgery. Analysis included Western blotting of relevant BBB proteins in addition to in vivo brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a clinically used low-molecular contrast agent.
Results: While quantitative analysis of BBB proteins revealed similar expression levels, MRI showed evidence of BBB disruption after CPB/DHCA compared to sham surgery.
Conclusions: Combining molecular BBB analysis and MRI technology in a rodent model is a highly translatable approach to study adverse neurologic outcomes following CPB/DHCA.
Keywords: Blood brain barrier; Cardiac surgery; Cardiopulmonary bypass; Deep hypothermic circulatory arrest; Neurologic injury.
Copyright © 2014 Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS) and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ). All rights reserved.