Abstract
The first issue to be addressed in this chapter is to try to determine if there are relevant differences between lung perfusion using arterial blood and lung perfusion using venous blood. Based on our data1, controlled lung perfusion with venous blood had, on one hand, hemodynamic and inflammatory benefits; on the other hand, postoperative gasometric performance was not marked by optimal parameters. Before making another consideration, we would like to point out that venous blood itself is not deleterious for lung tissue as normal pulmonary physiology is characterized by lung perfusion exactly with venous blood pumped by the right ventricle into the main pulmonary artery. The real limitation is that controlled lung perfusion using venous blood is not capable of ensuring optimal gasometric parameters postoperatively, especially if the heart is kept beating in cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).1
