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Cardiovascular & thoracic surgery
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Cardiovascular Perfusion program

Children’s Heart Centre’s perfusion team uses state-of the-art equipment to support children requiring cardiovascular surgery. The program has developed novel techniques to improve the safety and outcomes of neonatal and infant cardiac surgery and to enhance patient recovery from cardiopulmonary bypass.
 
During open-heart surgery the heart and lungs are not able to function without assistance and a heart-lung machine maintains blood pressure and oxygenation. Perfusion refers to the delivery and distribution of oxygenated blood to the tissue capillary bed. The blood is routed around the heart and lungs through the equipment and it is referred to as a cardiopulmonary bypass. This enables the surgical team to complete the cardiac repair without compromising the patient’s organ function.