3/09/2011

History: The Azygos Factor


British Journal of Surgery 1953;40(164):616-21.
A.T.Andreasen & F.Watson

This paper and the one before this paper, from the same group showed that the dogs survived when both SVC and IVC were clamped with only azygos flow allowed to go into right atrium. After the experiment, all surviving dogs behaved "normally".

Later, Lillehei's group in Minnesota showed that the amount of flow via Azygos vein was 10% of the venous return. This formed the basis for cross-circulation surgeries performed using another human being as the cardiopulmonary support - prior to availability of cardio-pulmonary bypass machine.

Donor is cannulated in the groin. The blood from the donor goes through a pump that is set to pump a calculated volume (equivalent to the azygos factor) to the recipient. Open heart surgery was performed with this set up in 1953-54.

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