Compatibility of Different Colloid Plasma Expanders with Perflubron Emulsion: An Intravital Microscopic Study in the Hamster

Background: Perfluorocarbon-based oxygen carriers have been proposed as an adjunct to autologous blood conservation techniques during elective surgery. To date, the effects of perfluorocarbon emulsions at the microcirculatory level have not been studied extensively. In this study the effects of perflubron emulsion on the microcirculation after acute normovolemic hemodilution (ANH) were investigated using different colloid plasma expanders.

Methods: The dorsal skin fold chamber model and intravital fluorescence microscopy were used for analysis of the microcirculation in the thin striated skin muscle of conscious hamsters (body weight, 40-60 g). Measurements of microvascular perfusion and leukocyte adhesion (n = 6 animals per experimental group) were made before and at 10, 30, and 60 min after ANH (to hematocrit 0.3) with either 6% hydroxyethyl starch 200/0.6 (HES), 3.5% gelatin, 5% human serum albumin (HSA), or 6% dextran 60 (DX-60) followed by intravenous injection of 3 ml/kg body weight of a 60% weight/volume perfluorocarbon emulsion based on perflubron (perfluorooctyl bromide) emulsified with egg yolk lecithin.

Results: Acute normovolemic hemodilution with HES, gelatin, or HSA followed by injection of perflubron emulsion elicited no alterations of local microvascular perfusion or leukocyte-endothelium interaction as assessed in arterioles and postcapillary venules. However, ANH with DX-60 followed by injection of perflubron emulsion led to a significant reduction of erythrocyte velocity in postcapillary venules and an increase in venular leukocyte sticking that was never observed with DX-60 alone.