US EPA

6325769 

Journal Article 

Review 

Blood substitutes. Artificial oxygen carriers: perfluorocarbon emulsions 

Spahn, DR 

1999 

Yes 

Critical Care
ISSN: 1364-8535
EISSN: 1466-609X 

3 

5 

R93-R97 

English 

11094488 

10.1186/cc364 

WOS:000084589900005 

Perfluorocarbon emulsions are being clinically evaluated as artificial oxygen carriers to reduce allogeneic blood transfusions or to improve tissue oxygenation. Perfluorocarbon emulsions are efficacious in animal experiments, and in humans they are well tolerated and at least as successful to reverse physiologic transfusion triggers than autologous blood. Perfluorocarbon emulsions may be used in the future in the concept of augmented acute normovolaemic haemodilution. In this concept relatively low preoperative haemoglobin levels are targeted during preoperative normovolaemic haemodilution and a perfluorocarbon emulsion is given to augment oxygen delivery during surgery when low endogenous haemoglobin levels are expected. The autologous blood is subsequently retransfused in the postoperative period when the patient's oxygenation is provided primarily by the endogenous haemoglobin. Additional uses of perfluorocarbon emulsions will include treatments of diseases with compromised tissue oxygenation such as cerebral or myocardial ischaemia, air embolism and emergency or trauma surgery as long as no allogeneic blood is available. 

artificial oxygen carriers; perfluorocarbon emulsion; acute normovolaemic haemodilution; blood transfusion; blood conservation