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How is a Cardiopulmonary Bypass Performed?


  • artificial heartThe surgeon places a cannula (a specialized piece of tubing) into the patients right atrium.
  • The patient's blood is then drawn through a tube into a reservoir. A pump (artificial Heart) is used to pump the blood from the reservoir into an oxygenator (artificial lung) where oxygen is added and carbon dioxide is removed.
  • From there the blood passes up another tube and is returned to the arteries through a cannula the surgeon places in the aorta.

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