There is strong evidence that the embolization and dislodgement of atherosclerotic plaques from the aortic wall may be caused by high wall shear stress resulting from aortic inlet cannulation during cardiac surgery. This can result in neurological complications, including stroke, or ischemia of other organs such as kidney, liver or intestine.
This short video animation focuses on the clinical challenge of aortic arch plaque embolization that results from the jet stream of a standard aortic arch cannula. It demonstrates how Optiflow arterial cannulae’s unique dispersion tip and more gentle flow reduces aortic wall shear stress to avoid this problem, under pulsatile and non-pulsatile ECC conditions.