Eligible patients
included those admitted for elective or urgent concomitant
coronary artery bypass grafting with any valve repair
or replacement, combined valves, redo operations, and
aortic replacement procedures. Patients requiring emergency
cardiac procedures and the need for axillary or
femoral arterial cannulation were excluded. After obtaining
informed consent, a sealed opaque envelope randomization
was used to assign study participants to
pulsatile or nonpulsatile perfusion.