Cold agglutination in open heart surgery

Conclusion: Presence of cold agglutinins in any cardiac surgical patient increases the likelihood of haemolysis. Prevention is more important and a normothermic cardiopulmonary bypass and warm myocardial protection are well established means for preventing intravascular haemolysis in these patients. If hypothermia cannot be avoided, other special techniques like total wash-out method can be used. With increasing awareness of its presence, the morbidity should be kept at minimum. © 2002 IJTCVS.