The importance of maintaining a more or less constant blood volume, during and after total body perfusion, is self-evident. This report concerns the results of measurements of various parameters which affect blood volume. The measurements were obtained in 50 consecutive patients who were treated surgically for a variety of congenital and acquired cardiac defects. In all instances, the Clark bubble pump-oxygenator1,2 was used to maintain extracorporeal circulation during surgery.
Radioiodinated serum albumin (RISA) blood volumes were measured in 41 patients. These patients received 5 to 10 drops of a saturated solution of potassium iodide for three days prior to study in order to block the uptake of I131 in the thyroid gland. A blood volume estimation was undertaken soon after the patient was anesthetized, and this was used as the control value. A second blood volume determination was undertaken one hour after the completion of the cardiotomy,