The first Russian experience in successfully using an implantable СardioWest TAH-t artificial heart system (SynCardia)
The paper describes the first Russian experience in using an implantable CardioWest TAH-t artificial heart (AH) system (SynCardia, USA) to treat critical heart failure. The AH system was implanted in a 60-year-old female patient with dilated cardiomyopathy, a limited probability of survival, and unoperated defects. The main medical and technical characteristics of the AH system and the patients clinical status in the preoperative and immediate and late (up to 238 days) postoperative periods are presented. Indications for and contraindication to implantation of the system and its possible application modes are considered. Equipment and a procedure for AH implantation, approaches to postoperative management, and treatment policy for postoperative complications are described in detail. The application of the AH system permitted the patient to wait for a donor heart. The latter was successfully transplanted in the patient.