The patient’s heart is stopped. The lungs no longer pump air. But the patient is still alive. This is a typical scene inside an operating room in the midst of a cardiac procedure.
During an open-heart surgery at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, the perfusionist runs the heart-lung machine that is connected to the patient and will take over control of their heart and lungs.
While the surgeon operates on these organs, the perfusionist monitors the heart-lung bypass machine. A complex tubing system connecting the patient to the machine -- known as cardiopulmonary bypass -- diverts blood from the patient’s heart while pumping it through the body. The machine also takes over the function of the patient’s lungs and ensures the patient receives enough oxygen.
The machine and the perfusionists who operate it keep the patient alive during complex surgery.
“I think it’s absolutely fascinating that one can do this - take over the function of the heart and lungs, take the patient’s blood and pass it through all these artificial surfaces and pieces of tubing and give it back to the patient. Then they are able to resume function of their own heart and lungs afterwards, their brains are intact, they (can) survive the procedure,” says Mindy Madonik, a perfusionist at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre in Toronto, ONT.