Perfusionists

Sometimes, cardiovascular surgeons can operate on the heart when it is beating, but often they need to stop the heart in order to work on or around it. Valve replacement surgery is a good example of where the heart must be stopped temporarily during surgery. To maintain blood flow to the body’s tissues during operations when the heart needs to be stopped, surgeons call on perfusion technologists, usually called perfusionists.

Perfusionists are vital members of the cardiovascular surgical team because they are responsible for running the heart-lung, or cardiopulmonary bypass machine. The heart-lung machine draws blood away from the heart and lungs, adds oxygen to the blood and removes carbondioxide, then returns the blood to the body, completely bypassing the heart - hence the name. During surgery, perfusionists use the heart-lung machine to maintain blood flow to the body’s tissues and regulate levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood. Perfusionists are also responsible for measuring selected laboratory values (such as blood cell count) and monitoring circulation. Under the direction of the anesthesiologist and surgeon, perfusionists may also administer medicines through cardiopulmonary bypass apparatus.

If you are an Asheville Heart patient, you may never even see your perfusionist, or be vaguely aware of smiling eyes peeking over a surgical mask. Here are the members of the team who have your best interests at heart (literally).

JOHN MARFLAK Chief Perfusionist
HEATHER DAVIS Perfusionist
MICHAEL KUNTZ Perfusionist
JOE LUDE Perfusionist
BRYN WILLIAMS Perfusionist