Abstract
It is the aim of this laboratory to devevelop a reliable and acceptable artificial heart for human application in the near future. The Jarvik heart has been used to keep calves alive for 6 months (1). Our present surgical procedure (2) for implantation is to excise both ventricles and coronary arteries and leave almost all of both atria in situ. The atrial cuffs are then connected to the artificial ventricles. The remnant atria does not have a blood supply via coronary arteries. In a recent series of experiments, 75% of the calves survived one month with a total artificial heart (TAB). However, we have observed a pannus formation in both atrioventricular inflow tracts. Presently it is the primary cause of termination of long-term survival calves, and has been reported in this laboratory (1) and other laboratories (3, 4). The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the status of the atrial myocardium with an interrupted coronary blood flow, and to define the long-term prognosis of the remnant atria, and to identify the origin and etiological factors of the abnormal tissue growth (pannus at the junction of the atrial cuff and quick connects.
