Another common entry way for gaseous emboli is from the ventricular vent or field sucker pumps. These pumps will often emulsify the air and blood, making a bloody meringue. Meringue is a sweet mixture of egg whites (which are primarily an albumin solution) and sugar beaten at high speed into a thick emulsion as shown in the picture. The emulsion is composed of microscopic air bubbles (mostly nitrogen) encapsulated in an albumin membrane. Because it is an albumin solution, blood can also be emulsified. The albumin membrane keeps the bloody microscopic bubbles intact and makes their removal by buoyancy separation and filtration difficult.
Perfusion Theory is an educational platform for the Oxygen Pressure Field Theory (OPFT). August Krogh’s theoretical concept of the oxygen pressure field is explained and then applied to clinical applications in perfusion practice.