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J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2008;135:455-456
© 2008 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Brief Communication

Stenting of the superior vena cava in a patient with a total artificial heart

Markus Kondruweit, MDa,*,*, Thomas Strecker, MDa,*, Timo Seitz, MDa, Michael Uder, MDb, Michael Weyand, MDa, Rene Tandler, MDa

a Center of Cardiac Surgery, Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany
b Department of Radiology, Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany

Received for publication August 21, 2007; accepted for publication October 4, 2007.

* Address for reprints: Markus Kondruweit, MD, Center of Cardiac Surgery, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Krankenhausstrasse 12, 91054 Erlangen, Germany. (Email: markus.kondruweit@herz.imed.uni-erlangen.de).

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

For patients with decompensated biventricular heart failure refractory to medical management, the total artificial heart (TAH) is a sufficient therapy option. One possible postoperative problem is the compression of the superior vena cava (SVC) caused by bleeding that will lead to tamponade with low output of the TAH.

In a 55-year-old man, such a TAH was implanted as a bridge to transplantation without any perioperative complications. However, 7 months after the patient was discharged home, he was readmitted with signs of congestion of the upper body and low flow of the TAH because of SVC compression caused by pericardial effusion. In an interventional procedure a stent was implanted in the SVC, which led to full recovery of the patient and normal flow patterns of the TAH.

Clinical Summary

We implanted a TAH (CardioWest temporary Total Artificial Heart System; SynCardia Systems, Inc, Tucson, Ariz) in a 55-year-old man with decompensated biventricular heart failure caused by ischemic cardiomyopathy. The initial evaluation showed that he . . . [Full Text of this Article]






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