When blood interacts with the cardiopulmonary bypass machine, several cellular and humoral pathways are activated including the complement system, the coagulation system, and the fibrinolytic system.

Results are from the largest trial assessing acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiac surgery following extracorporeal blood purification.

Over the past century, heart operations that once were unthinkable have become commonplace. Thousands of times a day, surgeons graft arteries, fix structural defects or transplant entire hearts.

"The machine is not a cure-all for all heart ... It was the world's first series of successful open-heart operations using cardiopulmonary bypass. "And then things exploded." ...

State health inspectors visited the two Crozer Health hospitals a dozen times to investigate potential safety problems between February and July.