Reoperative surgery in calves with a total artificial heart

Two surgical techniques have been developed in our laboratory to deal with identifiable problems in long-term artificial heart experiments. A right throacotomy is used to deal with problems such as extensive bleeding, which occur in the immediate postoperative stage of the experiment, while a left thoracotomy is used in cases in which the original implantation is preceded by more than one week, since extensive adhesions complicate the right thoracotomy at that stage. Pulmonary problems have been eliminated as primary cause of difficulties after reoperation, but infection remains a serious problem.