A 59-year old male with severe three-vessel coronary artery
disease underwent CABG surgery with CPB. Under general anaesthesia
and after median sternotomy, graft material was harvested.
Normothermic CPB was started. The aortic root vent line was
tested before connection. During this procedure, the perfusionist
was asked to activate the roller pump to test the aortic root vent
line in fluid. Fluid was seen into the aortic root vent line and no
‘bubbles’ (to indicate positive pressure) were detected. The tubing
was connected to the aortic root cannula. After releasing the
clamp of the aortic root cannula, the direction of the blood flow
was checked while the roller pump was activated. Blood flow was
seen from the aorta into the aortic root vent line. Both tests
revealed no abnormalities or indication of a positive pressure in
the aortic root vent line tubing. The surgeon inspected and prepared
the graft material