Chemical In Plastic Medical Devices Could Impair Heart Function

May 1, 2009 7:05 a.m. EST

Baltimore, MD (AHN) - A chemical commonly found in plastic medical devices like IV bags and catheters could impair heart function, according to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine researchers.

The researchers are investigating whether the chemical is the cause of common side effects, like loss of taste and short-term memory loss, that some patients experience after procedures like heart bypass surgery, kidney dialysis, or other procedures requiring blood to be circulated outside the body in a plastic tube.

The researchers said the findings, published in the American Journal of Physiology, could have strong implications "for the future of medical plastics manufacturing," according to a Johns Hopkins press release.

The chemical, called cyclohexanone, was shown to impair heart function in lab rats.

The researchers took liquid samples from IV bags and bypass machines before they were used on patients. All the samples contained some detectable level of cyclohexanone, although the amounts varied.

Then the researchers injected rats with either a salt solution or a solution containing the chemical and salt. The rats that were injected with only the salt solution had more heart beats per minute and more blood pumping through their bodies than the rats given the chemical.

The rats injected with cyclohexanone also had weaker hearts than the other rats, according to the researchers. Specifically, they found that rats given the chemical had a 50-percent reduction in the strength of each heart beat.

Despite the research, Artin Shoukas, professor of biomedical engineering, physiology and anesthesiology, and the study's main author, said he would not recommend medical professionals stop using devices containing the chemical.

"On the contrary, such technologies are life-saving medical advances, and their benefits still far outweigh the risks of the associated side effects. As scientists, we are simply trying to understand how the side effects are triggered and what the best method will be to mitigate, and ultimately remedy, these morbidities," Shoukas said in a statement.