When surgery requires the heart to be stopped, a heart-lung machine takes over, keeping blood flowing, adding oxygen and removing carbon dioxide. A perfusionist is the person who selects the equipment, sets it up and operates the machine.
During surgery, the perfusionist closely monitors the circulatory process and keeps the surgeon advised. Perfusionists typically work for hospitals, surgeons or independent contractors that supply their services to hospitals. They must be available to be on-call. The surgeries that require their expertise include coronary bypass, valve replacement, aortic replacement, and repairs of tears in the aorta or in a valve.
Demand ebbs and flows
With the evolution of products such as stents to open blocked arteries and decisions by some surgeons to perform bypass operations without a heart-lung machine, perfusionists aren't in as much demand. But Leonard Dolentz, a perfusionist for 27 years, believes that the aging of baby boomers and questions about the efficacy of stents may yield a renewed call for their services.
"Some of them will end up in the cath labs with stents, but a lot of them will end up in surgery," he predicts of the aging boomers.
Dolentz works for Nashville-based Hospital Clinical Services Group, which has a contract with Allina Hospitals & Clinics. One of about 25 perfusionists in the Twin Cities, he works primarily at United and St. Joseph's hospitals in St. Paul and sometimes at Abbott Northwestern in Minneapolis.
Equipment used by perfusionists has evolved over the years, as have the educational requirements to become a perfusionist. A student who wants to be certified as a perfusionist may need a bachelor's degree. Requirements for the certificate may be incorporated into a degree program or taken later.
Education options
