Cerebral tissue oxygen saturation during percutaneous cardiopulmonary support in a canine model of respiratory failure

Percutaneous cardiopulmonary support (PCPS) has come to be applied for card iopulmonary resuscitation and in the management of severe respiratory failu re as well as severe heart failure. We investigated cerebral tissue oxygen saturation during PCPS in a canine model of respiratory failure using near- infrared spectroscopy. Animals were mechanically ventilated with 10% oxygen to make a respiratory failure model. Perfusion with PCPS was performed via the left femoral artery and switched to that via the right axillary artery . Cerebral tissue oxygen saturation was 54.2 +/- 3.4% during PCPS via the f emoral artery and was 82.3 +/- 4.6% during PCPS via the axillary artery (p = 0.001). Hepatic tissue oxygen saturation was not significantly different. LV dP/dt max increased significantly after switching to the axillary blood supply (p = 0.001). Conventional PCPS may not have the capability of suppo rting cerebral circulation under severe respiratory failure without organic heart disease.