Left heart bypass support with the Rotaflow Centrifugal Pump® as a bridge to decision and recovery in an adult

Since left heart bypass or biventricular circulatory assist with an extracorporeal centrifugal pump as a bridge to decision or recovery sometimes requires long-time support, the long-term durability of extracorporeal centrifugal pumps is crucial. The Rotaflow Centrifugal Pump® (MAQUET Cardiopulmonary AG, Hirrlingen, Germany) is one of the centrifugal pumps available for long-term use in Japan. However, there have been few reports of left heart bypass or biventricular circulatory support over the midterm. This is a case report of left heart bypass support with the Rotaflow Centrifugal Pump® as a bridge to decision and recovery for an adult patient who could not be weaned from cardiopulmonary bypass and percutaneous cardiopulmonary support after cardiac surgery. We could confirm that the patient's consciousness level was normal; however, the patient could not be weaned from the left heart bypass support lasting 1 month. Therefore, the circulatory assist device was switched to the extracorporeal Nipro ventricular assist device (VAD). This time, left heart bypass support could be maintained for 30 days using a single Rotaflow Centrifugal Pump®. There were no signs of hemolysis during left heart bypass support. The Rotaflow Centrifugal Pump® itself may be used as a device for a bridge to decision or recovery before using a VAD in cardiogenic shock patients.