[The use of right ventricular support with a centrifugal pump in a case with right ventricular failure due to intraoperative right ventricular infarction].

The patient was 67-year-old woman with mitral valve restenosis and regurgitation, tricuspid insufficiency, and left atrial dilatation who underwent mitral valve replacement, tricuspid valvuloplasty, and left atrial plication. The patient developed right ventricular (RV) failure due to RV infarction when she was weaned from cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Therefore, CPB was resumed to be followed by intra-aorta balloon pumping (IABP). However, complete response was not obtained. Thus, right ventricular support was performed using a centrifugal pump, and the patient could be weaned from CPB. Three days after surgery, the right ventricular support was discontinued, and IABP was removed 7 days after surgery without marked changes in hemodynamics. Although RV failure due to RV infarction is a serious intraoperative complication, favorable results were obtained by combination therapy with IABP and right ventricular support using a centrifugal pump in our patient.