Post-operative Administration of Platelet Rich Plasma Sequestered Prior to Cardiopulmonary Bypass Reduces the Coagulopathy Associated With Complex Cardiac Surgery

Excessive bleeding is common after cardiac surgery. This may result in patients receiving a blood transfusion or suffering the life-threatening complication of cardiac tamponade. Tamponade is when excessive bleeding compresses the heart and prevents it from pumping properly. A major reason for the bleeding is the damage done to platelets by the cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) machine. Often patients receive platelets and plasma from blood donors to try to reduce the bleeding post-operatively. The investigators plan to take platelets and plasma from patients before they are damaged. They would then return these 'undamaged' sequestered platelets to the patients after the bypass machine is no longer needed. Therefore, the investigators' primary question is whether platelet sequestration would reduce the bleeding problems that occur following cardiac surgery. They will evaluate bleeding problems using thromboelastography, which provides a comprehensive assessment of both how blood clots form and their strength. If sequestration reduces bleeding problems following cardiac surgery then it may reduce the chance of patients receiving blood products from donors. Although donated blood is thoroughly tested, its use does expose patients to the risk of transfusion errors, blood borne infections and reactions. Avoiding its use would be very desirable.