The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 53, 349-350, Copyright © 1992 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Preoperative and postoperative Hemopump support for patients undergoing orthotopic heart transplantation
JM Duncan, RT Baldwin and OH Frazier
Department of Cardiac Transplantation, Texas Heart Institute/St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, Houston 77225-0345.
The Hemopump (Johnson & Johnson Interventional Systems, Rancho Cordova,
CA) can be used successfully as a bridge to cardiac transplantation in
patients with advanced cardiogenic shock that proves to be irreversible.
Some patients, however, may also benefit from maintaining Hemopump support
for a period of time after transplantation. A technique has been developed
for continuing Hemopump support after transplantation that does not require
repositioning of the device.