Evaluation of cardiac function based on ventricular pressure-volume relationships during assistance with a rotary blood pump

Nowadays, a rotary blood pump can be used as not only for a bridge to transplantation (BTT) but also for a bridge to recovery (BTR) and a destination therapy (DT). In such cases, evaluation of the recovery level of the native heart provides useful information to improve the clinical strategy and decide adequate timing for removing of the RBP. In contrast, the indices for cardiac function have been studied. However, most of them do not consider the assistance with the RBP. In this study, we aimed at evaluating whether E_max, which is an index for cardiac function based on the pressure-volume relationships, is still valid during assistance with the RBP from an animal experiment. In the acute animal experiment with an adult goat, we measured pressure-volume (P-V) loops while cardiac function was normal, augmented or diminished. The experimental results revealed that there were typical differences in the shapes of P-V loops when the cardiac function was altered, and E_max can still be used as an index for the cardiac function even if the assistance with the RBP is ongoing