Profound haemodilution during normothermic cardiopulmonary bypass influences neither gastrointestinal permeability nor cytokine release in coronary artery bypass graft surgery

Profound haemodilution during normothermic CPB brought about significant changes neither in intestinal permeability nor in cytokine release. It may be concluded that a haematocrit of 19-21% during normothermic CPB does not impair intestinal barrier function and cytokine response in patients without gastrointestinal comorbidity.