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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Implantation of the Syncardia Total Artificial Heart
Published on: July 18, 2014
Insertion of right ventricular assist device and its removal under local anesthesia
Tomas A Salerno1, Marco Ricci, Efren Buitrago
1Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, Florida 33136, USA. tsalerno@med.miami.edu
Abstract:
A patient with acute right ventricular infarction was treated with coronary artery bypass grafting. A few days later developed right ventricular failure and required insertion of a right ventricular assist device through a sternotomy approach (TandemHeart, CardiacAssist, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, USA). We herein report a technique in which the removal of the right ventricular assist device is performed under local anesthesia without a sternotomy incision.
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