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Updated: May 4, 2026
Implantation of the Syncardia Total Artificial Heart
Published on: July 18, 2014
Total artificial heart-implantation technique using the CardioWest or the Thoratec system
Reiner Körfer1, Aly El Banayosy, Michiel Morshuis
1Heart and Diabetes Center North Rhine-Westphalia, Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Georgstrasse 11, 32549 Bad Oeynhausen, Germany.
Abstract:
Total artificial heart is a safe and efficient bridge for patients with terminal congestive heart failure awaiting cardiac transplantation. The implantation of the CardioWest total artificial heart has become an accepted therapeutic option in critically ill patients who have irreversible biventricular failure and are candidates for cardiac transplantation. Because of anatomical limitations in smaller patients (women, adolescents) implantation of the CardioWest system might be impossible. In these cases we have implanted the paracorporeal Thoratec device in a modified technique as a total artificial heart.
