Heterotopic Heart Transplantation as a Left Ventricular Biological Assistance: a New Two-Stage Method Proposal

Abstract Since Barnard ’ s first heterotopic heart transplant in 1974, Copeland ’ s method has been the greatest contribution to heterotopic transplants but has the drawback of donor ’ s right ventricular atrophy. This new method proposes a modification in the anastomosis of the superior vena cava aiming to pre-serve donor ’ s right ventricular function by decompressing the pulmonary territory and reducing the pulmonary arterial pressure, as a biological ventricular assist device. Finally, a second intervention is proposed, where a “ twist ” is performed to place the donor ’ s heart in an orthotopic position after re-moval of the native heart. A pioneering research on this method received approval from the ethics committee of the Heart Institute of S ão Paulo. We believe that this method has the potential to im-prove quality of life in a selected group of patients.
Source: Revista Brasileira de Cirurgia Cardiovascular - Category: Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Source Type: research