Cardiopulmonary bypass model in the rat: a new minimal invasive model with a low flow volume.

Numerous cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) models in the rat have already been described, but these models often have an important mortality and differ a lot from human clinical conditions thus making them hardly usable. The CPB model in the rat we describe allows a femoro-femoral support CPB with a low priming volume, minimal surgical approach and excellent peroperative survival. This CPB model in the rat allows evaluating extracorporeal circulation effects.