UNN scientists will improve the effectiveness of surgery in cardiac patients

A patent for the invention "A method for protecting erythrocytes in cardiac patients operated under conditions of artificial circulation" has been granted to a team consisting of researchers from the Institute of Biology and Biomedicine of Lobachevsky University and doctors of Nizhny Novgorod Specialized Cardiac Surgery Clinical Hospital. At present, cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death and disability of people around the world. According to the World Health Organization, over 16 million persons die from these diseases every year.

This purpose of the invention is to offer a new way for protecting erythrocytes in cardiac patients operated under artificial circulation by using inhalation of molecular hydrogen. As a result, the functional characteristics of erythrocytes are improved by reducing their aggregation when artificial blood circulation is applied in the surgery of cardiovascular patients. This improves the clinical and functional performance of the myocardium and increases the effectiveness of cardiac surgery.

"We were the first in the world to use molecular hydrogen for improving anesthesia in patients with acquired defects of heart valves. This is a new technology, and its implementation will improve the course of the postoperative period and, accordingly, will increase the efficiency of treatment," says Anna Deryugina, Head of the Physiology and Anatomy Department of the UNN Institute of Biology and Biomedicine. This method can be used in practical health care to improve the quality of treatment, in particular, for heart surgery with artificial circulation and in intensive care for surgery associated with artificial lung ventilation.