Cardiac assist devices

Question 1

Intra-aortic balloon
pump (IABP)

Answer 1

40-mL polyuretbane balloon mounted on a catheter is inserted into an artery in the groin and threaded through the femoral artery into the thoracic aorta.

Question 2

Ventricular assist
device (VAD)

Answer 2

• A mechanical pump helps a weakened ventricle pump
  blood throughout the body so the heart does not have to work as hard. A VAD may be used to help a patient survive until a heart transplant can be performed (bridge to transplant) or provide an alternative to heart transplantation (destination
  therapy).

Question 3

Cardiomyoplasty

Answer 3

A large piece of the patient’s own skeletal muscle (left latissimus dorsi) is partially freed from connective tissue attachments andwrapped around the heart, leaving the blood and nerve supply intact. An implanted pacemaker stimulates the skeletal muscle’smotor neurons to cause contraction 10-20 times per minute, in
synchrony with some of the heartbeats