Blood Use in Cardiac Surgery

Cardiac surgery has developed dramatically since the first open-he art operations were performed in the mid 1950s. Although the improvement of surgical technique, extracorporeal circulation, and postoperative management has contributed to a marked reduction of morbidity and mortality, the development of cardiac surgery to its present state would not have been possible without blood substitution by homologous donor blood. Only 20 years ago, open-heart operations required an average of 8 unit...