title: Creation of a self-made total artificial heart using combined components of available ventricular assist devices.
abstract: We describe the case of a 39-year-old woman who received a self-made total artificial heart built of components from the Thoratec and ExCor Berlin Heart systems. The patient had a severe aortic/myocardial infection following replacement of the ascending aorta with a Shelhigh conduit due to type A aortic dissection. The surgical technique is described in detail in this article. This technique is feasible if a total artificial heart is not available and implantation of a biventricular assist device is not possible.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital Muenster, Muenster, Germany. tdt.tjan@ukmuenster.de
authors.forename: T D T
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Tjan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Klotz
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Scheld
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000784:Aortic Dissection / Q000601:surgery; D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006354:Heart, Artificial; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices; D006801:Humans; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000601:surgery*; D011474:Prosthesis Design / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D019919:Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods*; D012086:Reoperation; D016896:Treatment Outcome