| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000)
Fiscal Year 1999: ¥1,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000)
Fiscal Year 1998: ¥1,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000)
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| Research Abstract |
In cardiac surgery, postoperative cardiac function is generally monitored by electocardiography (ECG), by invasive measurements of blood pressure, such as aortic pressure, and by the determination of hemodynamic variables, such as cardiac output, with a Swan-Ganz catheter. In recent years, transesophageal echocardiography has been introduced into clinical use, but, for various reasons, including distress and the difficulty of application in postoperative unconscious patients, it is not a popular method of monitoring, Since 1991, we have been developing a small implantable echocardiography probe. This probe was used in 31 patients with severely reduced left ventricular function who underwent open heart surgery and its clinical utility was well demonstrated. No deaths occurred in this series, This new implantable echocardiography probe allowed postoperative cardiac function to be monitored in real-time, The ejection fraction (EF), the cardiac output, the status of valves after valve replacement and/or valvuloplasty, the left and right ventricular wall motion, the presence of cardiac tamponade, and other variables could be assessed. The echocardiography probe can be positioned at any site at which specific information is desired during surgery. It can be inserted as easily as a pericardial drain tube and is removed in the same manner when no longer necessary. This probe has the potential to be very useful for monitoring patients on assisted circulation after open heart surgery.
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