CASE REPORTS   

Chirurgia 2014 October;27(5):305-7

Copyright © 2014 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Emergency veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with Levitronix centrifugal pump for bridging to Heart Ware left ventricular assist device implantation

Suha Kucukaksu D. ¹, Tuba Demirozu Z. ¹, Pektok E. ¹, Saracoglu A. ²

¹ Department of Heart Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Istanbul Bilim University, Sisli Florence Nightingale Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey; ² Department of Anesthesiology and Resuscitation, Istanbul Bilim University, Sisli Florence Nightingale Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

We report the case of a 37-year-old lady with idiopathic cardiomyopathy, New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class IV, who had emergency extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) implantation under cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation at intensive care unit (ICU). The patient was followed for two days to be certain about her neurocognitive status before birdging to patient long-term mechanical circulatory support. She had been weaned from all anesthetic medications, and her neurocognitive status was re-evaluated and she had left ventricular assist device implantation as bridge to heart transplantation. At postoperative month 10 she is waiting for a heart donor in good condition without any neurocognitive and motor dysfunction. We believe that short-term mechanical circulatory support therapy is life-saving in advanced heart failure patients whose neurologic status is uncertain. This therapy may allow time to bridge to heart transplantation and heart transplantation procedure.