State of the Art Review of Surgical Techniques for Microaxial Flow Pump Implantation

Recently, temporary mechanical circulatory support (tMCS) has been increasingly used for cardiogenic shock therapy. Originally designed as a bail-out option for patients who could not be weaned from cardiopulmonary bypass, the indications for tMCS have been expended and now enable us to support a wide range of patients with various cardiac pathologies. Modern tMCS devices include microaxial flow pumps (mAFP) which are small, versatile systems that can provide both acute cardiac support and cardiac protection for high-risk interventions. In this paper, we review different surgical implantation techniques with modern mAFP as well as specific aspects of preoperative indications and patient evaluation.