Triple bridge to simultaneous heart and kidney transplantation

We report a 40-year-old man who presented with irreversible cardiogenic shock. The patient was treated with three consecutive stages of mechanical circulatory support as a triple bridge to cardiac transplantation. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support was used for 5 days, followed by Levitronix CentriMag biventricular assist devices for 39 days. This was escalated to implantation of the CardioWest temporary total artificial heart for 107 days. The patient experienced concurrent end-stage renal disease and subsequently underwent both heart and kidney transplantation. On postoperative day 18 the patient was discharged with good cardiac and renal function.