Impact of pump replacement on outcome in advanced heart failure patients with left ventricular assist system

Thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair in a patient with a left ventricular assist device

We report a case of thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair in a 44-year-old man with end-stage heart failure requiring an extracorporeal left ventricular assist device (LVAD). At the age of 31 years, the patient experienced type B acute aortic dissection, which gradually dilated to a maximum dimension of 66 mm at the diaphragm. The aneurysm prevented the patient from meeting heart transplantation criteria. For this reason and because of an increased risk of rupture, we undertook surgical repair of the aneurysm. This report constitutes the first such published case, and we describe the management of the LVAD in the perioperative period.

Artificial Organs 2013: a year in review

In this Editor's Review, articles published in 2013 are organized by category and briefly summarized. We aim to provide a brief reflection of the currently available worldwide knowledge that is intended to advance and better human life while providing insight for continued application of technologies and methods of organ Replacement, Recovery, and Regeneration. As the official journal of The International Federation for Artificial Organs, The International Faculty for Artificial Organs, the International Society for Rotary Blood Pumps, the International Society for Pediatric Mechanical Cardiopulmonary Support, and the Vienna International Workshop on Functional Electrical Stimulation, Artificial Organs continues in the original mission of its founders "to foster communications in the field of artificial organs on an international level". Artificial Organs continues to publish developments and clinical applications of artificial organ technologies in this broad and expanding field of organ Replacement, Recovery, and Regeneration from all over the world. We take this time also to express our gratitude to our authors for offering their work to this journal. We offer our very special thanks to our reviewers who give so generously of time and expertise to review, critique, and especially provide so meaningful suggestions to the author's work whether eventually accepted or rejected and especially to those whose native tongue is not English. Without these excellent and dedicated reviewers the quality expected from such a journal could not be possible. We also express our special thanks to our Publisher, Wiley Periodicals, for their expert attention and support in the production and marketing of Artificial Organs. We look forward to recording further advances in the coming years.