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Updated: Nov 29, 2025

Use of Two Intracorporeal Ventricular Assist Devices As a Total Artificial Heart
Published on: May 11, 2018
Ventricular assist device for a coronavirus disease 2019-affected heart
Tienush Rassaf1, Matthias Totzeck1, Amir A Mahabadi1
1Department of Cardiology and Vascular Medicine, West German Heart and Vascular Center Essen, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
Abstract:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is challenging the care for cardiovascular patients, resulting in serious consequences with increasing mortality in pre-diseased heart failure patients. In the current state of the pandemic, the physiopathology of COVID-19 affecting pre-diseased hearts and the management of terminal heart failure in COVID-19 patients remain unclear. We outline the findings of a young COVID-19 patient suffering from idiopathic cardiomyopathy who was treated for acute multi-organ failure and required cardiac surgery with implantation of a temporary right ventricular and durable left ventricular assist device (LVAD). For deeper translational insights, we used in-depth tissue analysis by electron and light sheet fluorescence microscopy revealing evidence for spatial distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in the heart. This indicates that in-depth analysis may represent a valuable tool in understanding indistinct clinical cases. We conclude that COVID-19 directly affects pre-diseased hearts, but the consequences can be treated successfully with LVAD implantation.
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