Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 29, 2025
Use of Two Intracorporeal Ventricular Assist Devices As a Total Artificial Heart
Published on: May 11, 2018
Use of a surgically implanted, nondischargeable, extracorporeal continuous flow circulatory support system as a
Gonzalo Cabezón-Villalba1, Eduardo Barge-Caballero2, Francisco González-Vílchez3
1Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain.
Insights
The CentriMag system effectively bridges emergency heart transplant candidates to surgery, showing feasible use and acceptable survival outcomes. This acute circulatory support demonstrated comparable results for both left ventricular and biventricular support configurations.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Surgery
- Transplantation Medicine
- Mechanical Circulatory Support
Background:
- Emergency heart transplantation (HTx) requires effective bridging strategies.
- The CentriMag acute circulatory support system offers potential for bridging HTx candidates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe clinical outcomes of CentriMag use as a bridge to emergency HTx.
- To compare outcomes between left ventricular support (LVS) and biventricular support (BVS) configurations.
Main Methods:
- Descriptive analysis of a multicenter retrospective registry (2010-2020) of 358 HTx candidates.
- Patients received CentriMag configured for LVS or BVS, listed for high-priority HTx.
- Primary endpoint: 1-year post-HTx survival.
Main Results:
- 303 (84.6%) patients received HTx; 53 (14.8%) died awaiting transplant.
- One-year post-HTx survival was 77.6%.
- No significant survival difference between LVS and BVS groups; BVS associated with higher bleeding/renal failure, LVS with higher stroke incidence.
Conclusions:
- CentriMag system use as a bridge to emergency HTx is feasible.
- Acceptable on-support and posttransplant outcomes were observed.
- Prioritization and short waiting times contribute to successful bridging.
Introduction And Objectives:
We aimed to describe the clinical outcomes of the use of the CentriMag acute circulatory support system as a bridge to emergency heart transplantation (HTx).
Methods:
We conducted a descriptive analysis of the clinical outcomes of consecutive HTx candidates included in a multicenter retrospective registry who were treated with the CentriMag device, configured either for left ventricular support (LVS) or biventricular support (BVS). All patients were listed for high-priority HTx. The study assessed the period 2010 to 2020 and involved 16 transplant centers around Spain. We excluded patients treated with isolated right ventricular support or venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation without LVS. The primary endpoint was 1-year post-HTx survival.
Results:
The study population comprised 213 emergency HTx candidates bridged on CentriMag LVS and 145 on CentriMag BVS. Overall, 303 (84.6%) patients received a transplant and 53 (14.8%) died without having an organ donor during the index hospitalization. Median time on the device was 15 days, with 66 (18.6%) patients being supported for> 30 days. One-year posttransplant survival was 77.6%. Univariable and multivariable analyses showed no statistically significant differences in pre- or post-HTx survival in patients managed with BVS vs LVS. Patients managed with BVS had higher rates of bleeding, need for transfusion, hemolysis and renal failure than patients managed with LVS, while the latter group showed a higher incidence of ischemic stroke.
Conclusions:
In a setting of candidate prioritization with short waiting list times, bridging to HTx with the CentriMag system was feasible and resulted in acceptable on-support and posttransplant outcomes.
