Successful use of the Tandem Heart percutaneous ventricular assist device as a bridge to recovery for acute cellular rejection in a cardiac transplant patient

In this report, we presented a patient who benefited from hemodynamic support with the TandemHeart Percutaneous Ventricular Assist Device (pVAD; Cardiac Assist, Inc) implantation in the setting of early acute graft rejection 2 months after orthotopic heart transplant. The TandemHeart initially had been used for temporary hemodynamic assistance during postcardiotomy heart failure and high-risk coronary interventions. More recently, its use in patients with cardiogenic shock from acute myocardial infarction, fulminant myocarditis, and critical aortic stenosis has been reported. To our knowledge, this is one of the first reported cases in which the TandemHeart pVAD served as a successful device for support during acute cardiac transplant rejection.