Validation of Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) During Heart-Lung Bypass in Children

Non-invasive assessment of blood flow to organs has long challenged clinicians. Recently, near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been recognized as a methodology that may achieve this goal. A commercially available NIRS monitor, marketed by Somanetics, Inc., is now in widespread use in the clinical care of pediatric cardiac patients in the operating room and in the intensive care unit post-operatively. When a patch/probe from the monitor is placed on the forehead or lower back, blood oxygen concentration data is obtained which has been found to correlate with actual blood samples taken by IV. The presence of this NIRS data would give the surgeon important feedback about blood flow to important areas like the brain and kidneys during heart surgeries on children and after the operation is completed in the intensive care unit. The investigator wishes to perform a prospective study of the NIRS monitor use with children that need heart surgeries that require heart-lung bypass and sometimes require monitoring in the ICU, post-operatively.