Retrograde Autologous Priming (RAP) of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) circuits is an effective way to reduce prime volume, commonly through the transfer of prime into separate reservoirs or circuit manipulation. We describe a simple and safe technique for RAP without the need for any circuit modifications or manipulations.

For this technique, a separate roller pump for ultrafiltration (UF) is used. After adequate heparinization and arterial cannulation, the UF pump is initiated slowly, removing prime through the effluent of the UF, replacing with the patient’s blood from the aortic cannula. Once the arterial line and UF circuit are autologous primed, the arterial head displaces reservoir crystalloid toward the UF circuit at a flow rate equal to the UF pump, displacing the crystalloid prime with blood from the UF circuit, autologous priming the boot and oxygenator with blood, crystalloid again being removed by the effluent. After venous cannulation, the venous line prime is replaced with autologous blood, the crystalloid removed by the effluent of the UF circuit via the arterial head. During RAP, if the patient becomes hypovolemic, either autologous volume is transfused back to the patient, or CPB is initiated, without the need for circuitry modifications.

The patient population in this sample consisted of 63 patients ranging between 6.1 kg and 115.6 kg. The smaller the patient, the less blood volume available for RAP and therefore the less prime volume able to be removed. Overall percent removal increases as our patients size increases compared to total circuit volume.

This RAP technique is a safe and effective way to achieve a standardized asanguinous prime for many regardless of patient or circuit size in the absence of contraindications such as low starting hematocrit, emergency surgery or physiologic instability. Most importantly, this potentially reduces the amount of hemodilution patients see from CPB initiation and therefore the lowest nadir hematocrit and consequently the amount of required homologous blood products needed during surgery.