In vivo assessment of hemocompatibility of a ventricular assist device in healthy swine

objective: to assess the hemocompatible performance of a novel implantable pneumatic ventricular assist device (vad, innovamédica, méxico) in healthy swine. the aim of this pilot study was first, to determine if short-term vad implantation elicited a remarkable inflammatory response above that expected from surgical trauma; and second, to assess if heparinized or passivated vad coatings, in combination with systemic anticoagulant or antiaggregant therapies, modified the vad's hemocompatible performance. methods: hemodynamic, physiologic, inflammatory and histological parameters were measured in 27 pigs receiving vad support for six hours, testing combinations of heparinized or passivated vad coatings and systemic anticoagulant/ antiaggregant therapies. mean concentrations of interleukin-1 β (il-16), interleukin-6 (il-6), c-reactive protein (crp), or thrombin-antithrombin iii (tat) complexes (coagulation indicator) were measured from blood. anova statistics were employed. results: no substantial increases in mean il-1β, il-6, crp, or tat were obtained during vad support. hemodynamic and physiologic parameters were normal. we found no evidence of thromboembolisms or micro-infarctions in heart and lung samples. no major coaguli/deposits were found in vad compartments. overall, no remarkable differences in measurements were found using heparinized, passivated, or uncoated vad, or with systemic anticoagulation, antiaggregant therapy, or no treatment. conclusions: our findings demonstrate, firstly, that during the time-period tested, the vad elicited negligible inflammation above the effects of surgical trauma; and secondly, that little coagulation was observed upon vad support in any of the cases tested. contemplating further validation studies, our data indicate that the innovamédica vad is a highly hemocompatible system.