DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW INTRODUCTION TECHNIQUE FOR THE PULSATILE CATHETER PUMP

The pulsatile catheter (PUCA) pump is an intraventricular blood pump t hat can be introduced into the left ventricular cavity through a super ficial artery (trans arterially) or directly through the thoracic aort a during open chest conditions. When positioned, the pump aspirates bl ood from the left ventricle and transports it into the ascending aorta . A pneumatic driving system allows the blood to be ejected in early d iastole of every second or third heart beat. The main goal of this stu dy was to develop an easy, fast, safe surgical introduction technique. Four different means of catheter introduction were tested in 20 acute open chest experiments with calves: introduction without any guidance at all, introduction by x-ray guidance only, introduction using a gui de wire plus x-ray guidance, and introduction using a guiding pressure catheter. Introducing the PUCA pump catheter into the left ventricula r cavity using a pigtail guiding pressure catheter proved to be easy. The large bore pump catheter followed the guiding catheter and passed the aortic valve well. The position of the PUCA pump could be monitore d from the pressure patterns derived from the guiding catheter.