Current state of total artificial heart therapy and introduction of the most important total artificial heart systems.

Due to the declining instances of organ donation, total artificial heart (TAH) therapy is of increasing importance for the management of end-stage biventricular heart failure. We introduce the currently most important established and novel TAH systems (SynCardia, CARMAT, ReinHeart, BiVACOR), report clinical outcomes and discuss technical requirements for the successful implementation of TAH therapy as an alternative to cardiac transplantation.

Donor heart selection and outcomes: An analysis of over 2,000 cases.

Background: Decision-making when offered a donor heart for transplantation is complex, and supportive data describing outcomes according to acceptance or non-acceptance choices are sparse. Our aim was to analyze donor heart acceptance decisions and associated outcomes at a single center, and after subsequent acceptance elsewhere.

Methods: This investigation was a retrospective analysis of data obtained from the University of Vienna Medical Center and Eurotransplant centers for the period 2001 to 2015.

Liver failure in total artificial heart therapy.

Background: Congestive hepatopathy (CH) and acute liver failure (ALF) are common among biventricular heart failure patients. We sought to evaluate the impact of total artificial heart (TAH) therapy on hepatic function and associated clinical outcomes.

Methods: A total of 31 patients received a Syncardia Total Artificial Heart.