Carbon dioxide management and the cerebral response to hemodilution during hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass in dogs.

Background. Increases in blood flow support oxygen (O2) delivery with hemodilution. However, with α-stat management, the cerebral response to hemodilution is blunted. We tested the hypothesis that carbon dioxide (CO2) management is a primary determinant of the cerebral blood flow (CBF) response to hemodilution during hypothermic bypass.