Yoshizumi Tomo, Ito Hideki, Terazawa Sachie, Tokuda Yoshiyuki, Sakurai Hajime, Narita Yuji, Mutsuga Masato
Department of Cardiac Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai, Showa-Ku, Nagoya, 466-8550, Japan.
J Artif Organs. 2025 Jun;28(2):262-265. doi: 10.1007/s10047-024-01464-w. Epub 2024 Aug 27.
A 31-year-old man with a HeartMate 3 was admitted with a "Driveline Communication Fault" alarm due to liquid infiltration. Eleven months earlier, the connector between the modular and pump cables had gotten wet when he was taking a shower. The cable connector was dried immediately, and no alarm had been observed during follow-up. Subsequently, the modular cable and system controller were replaced, with corrosion found on the modular cable connector. The "Communication Fault" alarm recurred, and complete damage to the communication cables was discovered. The pump was replaced, and the removed pump cable connector showed corrosion as well. If the driveline connector gets wet, the multidisciplinary team should discuss if it should be immediately disconnected and dried, averting the need for future pump replacements due to corrosion.
