Abstract
This study was performed to examine the efficacy and safety of “tea spoon pump” in vivo experiments as the bridge use for profound left ventricular failure. Six male sheep, weighing 48 to 80 kg were used in this study. Four sheep were used for totally assisted circulation. The entire circulation was easily maintained (>4L/min), and blood cell trauma was subtle in all cases. But some problems were observed; 1) When the ventricular fibrillation occured in the severe hypovolemic status, the drainage was found inadequate. 2) All sheep in totally assisted circulation could not keep the standing position postoperatively. (The values of serum GOT, GPT, and creatinine increased after assist circulation began.) Only the last case, in which tea spoon pump was used as the partially assisted circulation, could keep the standing position postoperatively. We suspected that we should reexamine the limit of non-pulsatile assist alone for the left ventricle assist device.
