Fluid Dynamics in Rotary Piston Blood Pumps.

Mechanical circulatory support can maintain a sufficient blood circulation if the native heart is failing. The first implantable devices were displacement pumps with membranes. They were able to provide a sufficient blood flow, yet, were limited because of size and low durability.

Rotary piston blood pumps: past developments and future potential of a unique pump type.

Introduction: The design of implantable blood pumps is either based on displacement pumps with membranes or rotary pumps. Both pump types have limitations to meet the clinical requirements. Rotary piston blood pumps have the potential to overcome these limitations and to merge the benefits.

[Preoperative diagnosis: the Wada test with SPECT control for localizing brain function in therapy-refractory epilepsy].

Extensive diagnostic measures are necessary to clarify the indication for surgery in patients suffering from epilepsy that is refractory to treatment. Within the overall framework of neuropsychological diagnosis we conducted the Wada test, injecting 200 mg (or 3 mg/kg body weight) of sodium amytal on different days, in each case into the left or right internal carotid artery. This results in a 3-5 minute anaesthesia of the relevant hemisphere.

Technetium-99m HM-PAO brain SPECT in epileptic patients before and during unilateral hemispheric anesthesia (Wada test): report of three cases.

The lipophilic brain SPECT agent [99mTc]hexamethyl propylene amine oxime (HM-PAO) was used in three cases before and during unilateral anesthesia of one hemisphere for lateralization of speech dominance (Wada test). This procedure led to a decrease of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in each of the hemispheres to 55 and 90%, respectively. Diminution of rCBF was significantly more pronounced in the dominant hemisphere.

[Dural angiomas].

The management of arteriovenous malformations confined exclusively to the dura and its duplications (DAVMs) is a challenge. The problems of diagnosis and the possible methods of treatment are discussed on the basis of 23 personal cases. Selective and superselective angiography for the detection of any multipedicular supply from separate arterial systems has proved essential before rational treatment can be instituted.