Exhaled nitric oxide before and after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass-response to acetylcholine and nitroglycerin

Interestingly, pulmonary vascular dysfunction after CPB was accompanied by a reduction in the exhaled nitric oxide response to nitroglycerin and lower levels of basal exhaled nitric oxide. The ACh-induced responses in exhaled nitric oxide were unchanged, which could indicate nitric oxide-independent mechanisms behind the endothelial dysfunction in this study. The possibility of using exhaled nitric oxide dynamics to investigate pulmonary endothelial dysfunction merits further studies.