EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF A PERCUTANEOUS RIGHT-VENTRICULAR ASSIST SYSTEM

Background. Mechanical right ventricular assistance is necessary in th e management of profound right ventricular failure resistant to medica l therapy. Conventional right ventricular assistance requires a thorac otomy. We developed a technique for assisting the failing right ventri cle without thoracotomy. Methods. We implanted the percutaneous right ventricular assist system in animals to test its feasibility and safet y. A feasibility study was performed in a right ventricular failure mo del using 12 open chest dogs, and we examined the effects of the syste m hemodynamically. Next, the system was implanted into 6 goats and dri ven for 2 to 8 days. Results. Institution of the percutaneous right ve ntricular assist system revealed overall hemodynamic improvement on ri ght ventricular failure in dogs. In the goat experiment, no animal die d from cannula-related complications. No damage to the intracardiac st ructures and no pulmonary edema were seen. Plasma free hemoglobin conc entration did not exceed 10 mg/dL. Conclusions. The percutaneous right ventricular assist system is safe and effective in the management of right ventricular failure.