[Implantation of the Novacor left ventricular assist device in a patient with dilated cardiomyopathy].

The Novacor left ventricular assist device has been widely applied as a bridge to heart transplantation. The patient, a 29-year-old, male had severe left ventricular failure due to dilated cardiomyopathy. The heart failure had progressively worsened and showed severely reduced wall motion of the left ventricle with fraction shortening of 0.03. His cardiac catheterization data with 7 r of dopamine infusion was as follows; RA(12), RV46/9EDP(12), PA(w)(31), cardiac Index 1.73 l/min/cm2. Novacor implantation was performed on March 11th, 1996. After the implantation the patient was extubated on day 3 and recovered rapidly. No complications, such as bleeding or thromboembolic episodes were seen. The patient was flown to the USA for cardiac transplantation on 24th, September, 1996. During the 11-hour flight from Narita to Los Angeles, he experienced no adverse effects. The patient underwent a successful cardiac transplant at UCLA Medical Center. His post-operative course was uneventful. We believe that either chronic circulatory support or the bridge to transplant using Novacor LVAS will be a significant breakthrough for the treatment of Japanese patients with severely deteriorated cardiomyopathy.