[Clinical application of paracorporeal artificial ventricles (author's transl)]

A pneumatically driven artificial heart with tubular silicone rubber membrane and disc valves was used in four patients with intractable postoperative cardiac failure. The operation was performed through a median sternotomy: large cannulas were placed in both atria and blood was returned to aorta and pulmonary artery. In three patients the natural heart recovered and the artificial ventricles were removed. One patient died 6 weeks after the operation, the other two left the hospital in good condition. Profound postoperative heart failure can be reversed by the use of the paracorporeal artificial heart; the advantage of the system lies in the simplicity of its implantation and removal.