Heparin coating extends the durability of oxygenators used for cardiopulmonary support

A comparative study was performed between a noncoated and heparin-coated cardiopulmonary support (CPS) systems with the same design and structure (Terumo Corporation, Capiox-SX series) to evaluate whether or not heparin coating extends oxygenator service life. Fifty patients underwent CPS from January 1993 until December 1997, and 54 oxygenators (Capiox-SX series) were used. There were 35 noncoated oxygenators (Group NC) and 19 heparin-coated ones (Group HC). Significant predictors for the durability of oxygenators were evaluated by a nonparametric survival analysis and a proportional hazards regression analysis. Thirteen of 35 Capiox-SX and only 2 of 19 Capiox SX-HP revealed gas transfer failure and had to be exchanged. The average life span of the Capiox-SX and Capiox-SX-HP were calculated to be 78.6 ± 16.8 and 168 ± 15.4 h, respectively. Group HP showed significantly longer durability than Group NC (p = 0.0017), although there were differences of perfusion index and platelet counts between the 2 groups. Heparin coating of the CPS system remained one of the 2 significant predictors (hazards ratio 8.871, p = 0.0449) to determine the durability of oxygenators by increasing stepwise multivariate proportional hazards regression analysis, along with anemia with less than 8 g/dl hemoglobin (hazards ratio 9.438, p = 0.0173). Heparin coating of the CPS system assures improved durability because heparin-coated oxygenators have a longer service life than noncoated ones.