Balloon-Device Aids Heart In Acute Phase Of Attack
A balloon-like device has been inserted in the aorta of a patient in cardiac shock to temporarily assist the failing left ventricle, Maimonides Medical Center physicians say.In a preliminary report to the Seventh International Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering in Stockholm, Adrian Kantrowitz, MD, said the device—driven by a helium pump—was used first with a 45-year-old woman and then with a 58-year-old man.
Before The Technique
Before this technique was used, he said, standard procedures had failed to reverse these patients' downward course.The woman, aided by the balloon pumping (to force blood into the coronary arteries and down the aorta), recovered from the acute phase of her heart attack. In her case, the device was used intermittently during a seven-hour period. She remains under medical care at the center.The man's circulation was supported for 1 1/2 hours.