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Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Use of Two Intracorporeal Ventricular Assist Devices As a Total Artificial Heart
Published on: May 11, 2018
Right-sided univentricular cardiac assistance in a failing Fontan circulation
René Prêtre1, Achim Häussler, Dominique Bettex
1Cardiovascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, University Hospital, Zürich, Switzerland. rene.pretre@kispi.uzh.ch
Abstract:
Fontan patients are doomed to a circulatory failure and many of them will require a circulatory assistance as a bridge to transplantation. The univentricular heart with a total cavopulmonary connection presents a special challenge for the insertion of an assist device. We report a patient in multiple organ dysfunction and failure who was supported by right-sided univentricular assistance. Technically, a new chamber was created between both vena cava for implantation of the inflow cannula, and the extracardiac conduit was used to set the outflow cannula. The patient dramatically recovered and is currently in the best condition for heart transplantation.
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