Cardiovascular response to acute normovolemic hemodilution in patients with coronary artery diseases: Assessment with transesophageal echocardiography.

In this prospective case-control study, Licker et al. studied the cardiac response to moderate acute normovolemic hemodilution (target hematocrit value 28%) in anesthetized beta-blocked coronary artery disease patients with normal to moderate left ventricular function. Hemodilution was associated with a moderate increase in cardiac ouptut resulting from both an increase in stroke volume and a decrease in heart rate. The increase in stroke volume was mainly related to higher cardiac preload owing to increased venous return. Systolic and diastolic function were unaffected by hemodilution in this small group of patients.
This is one of the best articles evaluating the effects of hemodilution on cardiac function in coronary artery disease patients.

– Philippe Van der Linden