Objectives: Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) induces inflammatory homeostasis dysregulation, closely related to many postoperative adverse effects. Minimizing the systemic inflammatory response to CPB is imperative to improving cardiac surgery safety. This study aimed to retrospectively evaluate the efficacy of the hemoperfusion cartridge, a device recently designed for extracorporeal blood purification to remove cytokines from the blood for patients undergoing cardiac valve replacement surgery using CPB.

Methods: The hemoperfusion (HP) group consisted of 138 patients, who underwent a hemoperfusion cartridge procedure during CPB. The control group included 149 patients, who received standard CPB management. The evaluated indices included inflammatory cytokines, blood biochemical indices, and postoperative outcome indices.

Results: Patients in the HP group had relatively lower interleukin (IL)-6 levels (days one and two post-CPB) and IL-8 (day one post-CPB) compared with the control group. Some relatively decreased biochemical blood indices also were observed in the HP group, including a significantly lower lactic acid level (days one, two, and three post-CPB), platelet counts (days one, two, and three post-CPB), and aspartate aminotransferase (days one and three post-CPB). Regarding the postoperative outcomes, no severe complications occurred in the patients; however, the HP group required less ventilation time than the control group.

Conclusions: The hemoperfusion cartridge seems promising in limiting the inflammatory reactions during CPB, with noteworthy potential for application in cardiac surgery.