On February 3rd the first iVAC 3L case was carried out in Erasme ULB hospital, Belgium, by Dr Frederic Vandeneynden.
The patient was a 65yr old female who had been transferred to the ICU after bypass surgery and who had been unable to recover. Before implantation of the iVAC 3L she had a CO of 2.9L/M, EF of 20% and her kidneys were beginning to fail. Without the iVAC 3L it was predicted that she would have died the same day.
The iVAC 3L was inserted through the right axillary artery; positioning of the device took aproximately 4 minutes.
After implantation of the iVAC 3L her CO was increased to 5.2L/M; the next day her kidneys were functional again and it was possible to reduce her drug treatment.
The iVAC 3L was removed after five days of use. Three and a half weeks later she has been transferred to the CCU and is doing fine.
