The feasibility and efficacy of right ventricular assistance without thoracotomy

Mechanical right ventricular assistance has never been percutaneously instituted. We invented a new method for administering right ventricular assistance without thoracotomy (RAWT) and evaluated its effects in acute experiments using dogs. To institute RAWT, an outflow cannula was inserted into the pulmonary artery from the femoral vein, and an inflow cannula was inserted into the right atrium from the right jugular vein. A Swan-Ganz catheter inserted into the outflow cannula led it to the pulmonary artery under blood pressure monitoring only. A Sarns' centrifugal pump was used as a blood pump. We applied this system to biventricular failed hearts supported by a left ventricular assist device. We could increase cardiac output from 53.3 +/- 31.8 to 77.8 +/- 31.7 ml/min/kg, and mean aortic pressure from 43.5 +/- 12.3 to 57.5 +/- 11.2 mm Hg with RAWT. The right ventricular unloading effect of RAWT was not disturbed by regurgitation through the pulmonary or tricuspid valve.