Clinical Value of Application of Cerebral Oximetry in Total Replacement of the Aortic Arch and Concomitant Vessels

Cerebral ischemia or infarction caused by several equivocal mechanisms is a major complication after aortic arch replacement. Here, we report a 28-year-old male who underwent total replacement of the aortic arch and concomitant tributaries for hypoplasia of the transverse aortic arch and aortic branches. Continuous cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO2) monitoring was applied throughout the whole surgical course. According to the trend of rSO2, we could not only optimize the cerebral perfusion, but also confirm the patency of graft anastomosis. Therefore, monitoring rSO2 is very useful for determining cerebral perfusion during major surgery, especially in complicated repair of an aortic aneurysm, or replacement of the aortic arch and/or arch vessels.