Influence of biopump with and without intraaortic balloon on the coronary and carotid flow

Background. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of bi opump used for left ventricular assistance on the coronary and carotid flow s in dogs with normal heart. The efficacy of the simultaneous use of an int raaortic balloon pump to compensate the possible deleterious effects of the circulatory assistance with continuous now was also analyzed. Methods. Fifteen dogs were studied. The hemodynamic evaluation included ser ial measurements of the classic parameters. Carotid and coronary blood flow s were obtained by electromagnetic transducers. Results. The hemodynamic evaluation did not show significant statistical ch anges. The use of circulatary-isolated assistance with biopump shows reduct ion (24.6% +/- 6.1%) in coronary flow, in relation to the control situation and the concomitant use of biopump and intraaortic balloon pump showed sim ilar coronary flow. Regarding carotid flow a similar trend was observed in relation to the positive influence of the pulsatile flow with an intraaorti c balloon pump without statistical significance (p = 0.0582). Conclusions. The biopump reduces the coronary flow in dogs. The use of intr aaortic balloon pump with the biopump increases the coronary flow significa ntly, reaching similar values to those observed without the circulatory ass istance. (C) 2000 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.