Orthotopic heart transplantation: the bicaval technique

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

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Source

Source Name: MMCTS

Source URL: http://mmcts.oxfordjournals.org/content/2015/mmv035.full

Author(s)

Giuseppe Toscano, Tomaso Bottio, Antonio Gambino, Lorenzo Bagozzi, Alvise Guariento, Giacomo Bortolussi, Michele Gallo*, Vincenzo Tarzia and Gino Gerosa

Heart transplantation still remains the gold standard therapy for end-stage heart failure, although several other approaches have emerged, such as biventricular pacing, left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) and total artificial heart. Moreover, the increasing use of LVADs as a bridge to transplant is posing the technical challenge of LVAD removal during the procedure. We in this paper describe the bicaval technique, which currently represents the routine approach for orthotopic heart transplantation.