Mechanical Ventricular Assistance for Circulatory Support in Acute Coronary Artery Occlusion in the Pig: The Anstadt Cup

¹ School of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery
² School of Medicine, Department of Surgery
³ School of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology

This preliminary work demonstrates that the Anstadt type of ventricular pneumatic assistor is capable of maintaining cardiac output in the pig with the heart fibrillating following acute anterior descending coronary artery ligation. After support, the hearts were capable of defibrillation and maintaining circulatory support for varying periods of time. This would indicate that further studies should be done, increasing the length of time of ventricular assistance to allow greater collateral coronary artery participation. This would also suggest the feasibility of the application of this type of ventricular assistor for patients with acute coronary occlusion who are not capable of maintaining circulatory support. This is particularly important for the patients because the assistor can be applied rapidly with minimal surgical trauma and does not require the patient to be heparinized. Pulmonary edema may be prevented by careful control of intravenous fluid therapy and by precise adjustment of the rim of the assistor cup.