Abstract
An axial flow ventricular assist device, DeBakey VAD, will be used for bridge to transplantation in the near future. At Baylor College of Medicine, basic studies of pump design and short term ex-vivo implantations have taken place. These studies successfully evaluated histocompatibility and long-term reliability. Six in vivo implantation were performed in bovine weighing around 100kg. The inflow cannula was inserted into the left ventricle through the apex and outflow was anastomosed to the descending aorta. The pump was placed into the chest cavity and controlled outside of the body. The bovine reached post-operative days 26 to 72 with the exception of one surgical failure model. The pump outflow was excellent in the last five cases where an L-shaped inflow cannula was employed. Plasma free hemoglobin was maintained less than 5 mg/dl in each case. No thromboembolic event was detected, even though a small ring thrombus was on the pump bearing in one case. Electrical problems derived from the driving line were observed in three cases, however, minor modifications will solve this problem. The results of this study demonstrates that the DeBakey VAD is promising as a long-term implantable cardiac assist device.
