Introduction Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is currently performed in infants and newborns for surgical correction of congenital heart diseases (CHDs). CPB exposes the body to extreme, nonphysiologic conditions that initiate a systemic inflammatory response accompanied by vasomotor dysfunction, and can lead to multiple organ dysfunction. Additionally, CPB has been linked to activation and injury of endothelial cells, which is associated with global inflammatory response, triggering of the coagulation system and subsequent organ dysfunction, not only in adult patients, but particularly in […]