Prevention of left ventricular thrombus formation during pneumatic pump assist

A postcardiotomy patient with a pneumatic pulsatile pump for left ventricular assist showed a smoke-like swirling echo within the left ventricle during pump assist. The image disappeared partially during intra-aortic balloon pumping, which was performed as usual. Subsequently, three pumps (native left ventricle, pneumatic and intra-aortic balloon) were driven synchronously; that is, the ventricular assist pump ejected the blood in the first half of the diastole of the native heart beat, and the intra-aortic balloon was inflated during the second half. With this bisected diastolic driving, the abnormal echo disappeared completely. The patient died 52 days after operation, but no thromboembolic episode was observed during the course, and no fresh thrombus was found within the left ventricle at autopsy. The bisected diastolic driving method served as an aid to prevent stagnation of blood and thrombus formation within the native left ventricle in this patient with a left ventricular assist device.