Surgical Implantation of CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart

The CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart (TAH) is a biventricular orthotopic pneumatic pulsatile pump that totally replaces the native ventricles and valves and is currently approved as a bridge to heart transplatation in selected patients. The system consists of two artificial ventricles connected by two drivelines tunnelled under the skin, to an external air driver responsible for the pulsatile flow.

The two ventricles are connected to the atria of the recipient by means of two polyurethane atrial cuffs trimmed and sutured to the mitral and tricuspid anulus. The artificial ventricles are connected to the patient’s aorta and pulmonary trunk by interposing two Dacron tubes sutured to the great vessels.

In this video we reviewed the surgical procedure of the implantation of the CardioWest™ TAH.