The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Vol 81, 718-726, Copyright © 1981 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery and The Western Thoracic Surgical Association
Development and evaluation of electrically actuated abdominal left ventricular assist systems for long-term use
JM Fuqua Jr, SR Igo, CW Hibbs, VL Poirier, JA Chambers, WC Clay, MG McGee, SA Turner and JC Norman
A long-term, totally implantable, electrically actuated, abdominally
positioned left ventricular assist system (ALVAS) is being developed,
characterized in vitro, and evaluated in vivo for utilization in patients
with end-stage cardiac failure refractory to conventional therapeutic
techniques. The first two major subsystems of the ALVAS (the pusher-plate
blood pump and electrical-mechanical energy converters) have been
integrated and are undergoing in vitro characterization and long-term in
vivo evaluations in calves. Duration of these studies has exceeded 6
months. System performance in terms of hemodynamic effectiveness,
mechanical reliability, and biocompatibility has been excellent and no
untoward effects have been observed. Long- term effectiveness of the ALVAS
remains to be established in continuing experiments, with a 2 year period
of clinical use as an ultimate goal.