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Updated: Dec 8, 2025

Insertion, Maintenance, and Removal of the Percutaneous Dual Lumen Cannula Right Ventricular Assist Device
Published on: July 20, 2022
Pulsus Alternans as a Sign of Right Ventricular Failure After Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation
Tim Balthazar1, Tom Adriaenssens1, Filip Rega2
1University Hospitals Leuven, Department of Cardiovascular Diseases & Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Leuven, Belgium.
Abstract:
Temporary left ventricular assist devices such as the ImpellaTM are increasingly used in patients with cardiogenic shock. The right ventricle remains the Achilles heel of left ventricular assist device-supported circulation. However, right ventricular failure after implantation of a left ventricular assist device remains incompletely defined and understood. We describe the first case of pulsus paradoxus emerging after the initiation of circulatory support using a left ventricular ImpellaTM device, which is an early sign of right ventricular failure, that was completely abolished after the addition of a temporary right ventricular assist device.
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