Influence of an impeller centrifugal pump on blood components in chronic animal experiments.

Abstract

A chronic animal experiment was designed to examine the changes in blood components induced by the use of a centrifugal pump (CP). In the pump, an impeller spins in a blood chamber by magnetic coupling with a rotating magnet outside the blood chamber. A pulsatile ventricular assist device was implanted between the left atrium and the descending aorta in four goats weighing from 63 to 75 kg; the CP was installed to replace the assist device, without surgery and anesthesia, more than 2 weeks later when the influences of implantation surgery were diminished. Antithrombotic therapy was performed with oral administration of an antiplatelet agent, cilostazol, a cyclic adenosine monophosphate phosphodiesterase at a dose of 30 mg/kg/day. No significant differences were observed in any of the following parameters: 1) hematocrit, 2) plasma free hemoglobin, 3) lactic acid dehydrogenase, 4) adenosine diphosphate, 5) platelet count, 6) fibrinogen, and 7) antithrombin III, between the data before and after the use of the CP, nor were deformation or pseudopods of platelets seen. The CP developed in the authors' institute and evaluated in this study did not damage blood components, and it proved to be a promising device for long-term use.