Heart patients fitted with a new design of a heart pump are causing worry among dentists and other health care providers when no pulse or blood pressure can be found on the patients.
Not to worry. The HeartMate II, a pump the size of a C battery, operates like a propeller, pumping blood on an even flow, so there is no pulse or blood pressure from the patientâ??s heart.
The UW-Madison Hospital was one of 38 medical centers around the country taking part in a clinical study of the new heart pump, with the study showing patients fitted with the HeartMate II had a much higher rate of survival than patients using an older, larger model.