Background: Various techniques have been proposed for cerebral protection during the
surgical treatment of complex aortic disease. The authors propose a revisited strategy of
normothermic replacement of the aortic arch to avoid limitations and complications of
profound hypothermic circulatory arrest. Materials and methods: From April 2000 to May
2006, 19 patients with an aneurysm of the aortic arch and 10 patients with an acute (7) or a
chronic (3) aortic dissection underwent a totally normothermic, complete replacement of the …

The authors propose a new strategy of normothermic perfusion for replacement of the aortic
arch to avoid the complications of profound hypothermic circulatory arrest. Six patients
underwent complete replacement of the aortic arch under normothermia using two pumps
for the body (one for the brain and the thoracoabdominal aortic branches) and one for the
heart. The surgical procedure was performed with no time limit. There were no operative or
late deaths. No patients had neurologic deficit and all were rapidly extubated with uneventful …