Starfish™ heart positioner maintains right ventricular function during lateral wall displacement

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Surgery
• Medical Devices
• Surgical Techniques

Background:

• Assessing cardiovascular function during beating heart surgery is critical.
• Deep pericardial sutures (DPS) can cause hemodynamic compromise.
• The Starfish™ device's impact on right ventricular function needs clarification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate cardiovascular parameters using Starfish™ and DPS in a porcine model.
• To determine the toleration of right ventricular function with Starfish™ during lateral wall displacement.

Main Methods:

• Eight healthy pigs underwent hemodynamic monitoring.
• Swan-Ganz thermodilution catheters quantified cardiac output (CO) and right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF).
• Comparison between Starfish™, DPS, and baseline positions.

Main Results:

• DPS caused significant hemodynamic compromise, decreasing CO and RVEF (P < 0.05).
• Starfish™ maintained CO and RVEF, showing no significant changes (P > 0.05).
• Starfish™ demonstrated superior hemodynamic stability compared to DPS.

Conclusions:

• Starfish™ preserves right ventricular function and hemodynamic stability.
• DPS leads to significant hemodynamic compromise.
• Starfish™ is a viable option for maintaining cardiac function during lateral displacement procedures.