Heart booster: A pericardial support device

Background. Congestive heart failure is a pervasive disease afflicting mill ions of people. For many, their quality of life can be significantly improv ed by a pericardial device that can enhance cardiac output without the adde d risk of thromboembolism associated with direct blood contact. Methods. A cardiac assist device with tubular elements is wrapped around th e heart Fluid is pumped into and out of the wrap causing contraction and di lation of its circumference. This contracting and relaxing action generates cardiac assistance without the need to contact blood. In vitro characteriz ation and in vivo studies in calves were conducted to demonstrate the chara cteristics of the device. Results. In vitro characterization with the device wrapped around one-half of a ventricle to simulate left ventricular support demonstrated outputs of 6.5 L/min at physiological afterloads. In vivo studies in calves demonstra ted both cardiac output and afterload enhancements when the device is activ ated. Conclusions. This study provides a first demonstration of a device that pro vides cardiac support by a contraction and relaxation scheme with the devic e wrapped around the epicardium of the heart. The main feature of this actu ation method is the potential for building a small device for implantation without blood contact. (C) 1999 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.