• Leila Hosseinian, Matthew A Levin, Gregory W Fischer, Anelechi C Anyanwu, Gianluca Torregrossa, and Adam S Evans.
• 1Department of Anesthesiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. 2Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
• Crit. Care Med.. 2015 Jan 1;43(1):e19-22.

ObjectivesThe Total Artificial Heart (Syncardia, Tucson, AZ) is approved for use as a bridge-to-transplant or destination therapy in patients who have irreversible end-stage biventricular heart failure. We present a unique case, in which the inferior vena cava compression by a total artificial heart was initially masked for days by the concurrent placement of an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation cannula.PatientThis is the case of a 33-year-old man admitted to our institution with recurrent episodes of ventricular tachycardia requiring emergent total artificial heart and venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation placement.ConclusionThis interesting scenario highlights the importance for critical care physicians to have an understanding of exact anatomical localization of a total artificial heart, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and their potential interactions. In total artificial heart patients with hemodynamic compromise or reduced device filling, consideration should always be given to venous inflow compression, particularly in those with smaller body surface area. Transesophageal echocardiogram is a readily available diagnostic tool that must be considered standard of care, not only in the operating room but also in the ICU, when dealing with this complex subpopulation of cardiac patients.

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