Successful treatment of near-fatal fulminant myocarditis using bi-ventricular assist device support

Seiko Nakajima, Osamu Seguchi, Tomoyuki Fujita, Hiroki Hata, Kizuku Yamashita, Takuma Sato, Haruki Sunami, Masanobu Yanase, Norihide Fukushima, Junjiro Kobayashi, Takeshi Nakatani

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Fulminant myocarditis is a rare but fatal serious disease that may cause prolonged native cardiac dysfunction with multiorgan failure despite temporary mechanical circulatory support with percutaneous venoatrial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) or intraaortic balloon pumping (IABP). A 26-year-old man with fulminant myocarditis developed life-threatening multiorgan failure after 8 days support by VA-ECMO and IABP. He was transferred to our institution with prolonged cardiac dysfunction on hospital day 8; massive pulmonary edema developed into severe pulmonary dysfunction. Immediately after admission, VA-ECMO and IABP were switched to a paracorporeal pneumatic left ventricular assist device (LVAD) and right centrifugal ventricular assist device with an ECMO circuit shunting from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery (RVAD-ECMO). After intensive care focusing on respiratory dysfunction, ECMO was successfully weaned, and the right ventricular assist device was switched to a durable paracorporeal pneumatic right ventricular assist device. The paracorporeal bi-ventricular assist devices were finally replaced with an implantable non-pulsatile LVAD on hospital day 181. Currently, 1 year after discharge, the patient is at home awaiting heart transplantation. Combined LVAD and RVAD-ECMO appear to be useful for resolving severe pulmonary edema due to unnecessarily long VA-ECMO support as well as kidney or liver dysfunction caused by circulatory collapse.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)293-296
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Artificial Organs
Volume19
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01-09-2016
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Medicine (miscellaneous)
  • Biomaterials
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine

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