Limited mechanical circulatory support following orthotopic heart transplantation.
Shortage of donors enhances harvesting of borderline hearts. When such organs fail, a ventricular assist device may salvage the patient waiting for either recovery or for retransplantation. We describe a series of 12 patients who required circulatory support following orthotopic heart transplantation, with the use of four different devices. Four patients survived. The aim of this study is to define: (1) what is the best timing for implantation; (2) which is the best ventricular assist device in this indication; and (3) a subgroup of acute right heart failure with a specific outcome.
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital, 47-83 boulevard de l'hôpital, 75651 Paris Cedex 13, France. stephaneaubert@yahoo.fr
Stéphane
S
Aubert
Pascal
P
Leprince
Nicolas
N
Bonnet
Théodoro
T
Barreda
Alexandre
A
Ouattara
Shaida
S
Varnous
Alain
A
Pavie
Iradj
I
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