Artificial heart and cardiac transplantation: report on the first European combined procedure.
It became necessary to perform a staged procedure by means of total artificial heart followed by cardiac transplantation in a 26-year-old, female patient. The Ellipsoidheart, as an artificial heart, fitted excellently in the chest without compromising the surrounding structures. As soon as the patient recovered with the artificial heart, a consecutive transplantation was performed. This first European clinical experience gained confidence and suggests applying more artificial hearts as a bridge towards transplantation.
Unger
F
F
Department of Cardiac Surgery, St. John's Hospital, Salzburg, Austria.
Chmelizek
F
F
Jungwirth
W
W
Koller
I
I
Laczkovics
A
A
Lehner
L
L
Lexer
G
G
Olsen
D B
DB
Pohla
G
G
Schister
R
R
D000328:Adult; D004231:Diuresis; D004867:Equipment Design; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006354:Heart, Artificial; D006801:Humans; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic