Axial flow pump treatment during myocardial depression in calves: an invasive hemodynamic and echocardiographic tissue Doppler study

The aim of this study was to investigate flow characteristics and myocardial function after implantation of an axial pump left ventricular assist device while varying afterload and during progressive myocardial depression. Ten calves were included, seven of which fulfilled the protocol. Invasive hemodynamic monitoring and echocardiography with color-coded systolic tissue Doppler velocity (TD velocity) were used during prepump conditions, at three different pump speeds, during modification of the systemic vascular resistance (SVR), and during increasing degrees of beta-blockade. The TD velocity decreased with the myocardial function whereas left ventricular size, fractional shortening, and pump speed did not correlate significantly with the TD velocity. The TD velocity correlated significantly with native stroke volume, heart rate, SVR and cardiac output but none of these alone could explain more than 20% of the changes in TD velocity. The axial flow pump studied is effective in unloading the severely depressed heart and has a high capacity for maintaining an adequate cardiac output, regardless of differing hemodynamic conditions, pump speed or decreasing LV function. Echocardiography with volumetric rendering and TD velocity imaging are valuable tools for monitoring and quantifying residual myocardial function during pump treatment.