Heart and Soul.

The lead article in this January-February 2021 issue-the first of the Hastings Center Report's fiftieth year of publication-does not set out to change medicine. It tries instead to understand it. In "A Heart without Life: Artificial Organs and the Lived Body," Mary Jean Walker draws on work in phenomenology and on empirical research with people who have received artificial heart devices to argue that such devices may have two very different effects on how a patient experiences the body and the self. Several other pieces in this issue address the ongoing slew of patient care and health policy problems surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, and a special report titled Democracy in Crisis: Civic Learning and the Reconstruction of Common Purpose considers the requirements for public involvement in policy-making about bioethical issues.

Getting home with artifical heart ­ what is the everyday life experience of people with mechanical circulatory Support. A qualitative study / Mit Kunstherz nach Hause ­ Wie erleben Menschen mit mechanischer Kreislaufunterstützung ihren Alltag. Eine qualitative Studie

Background: The growing number of mechanical circulatory support systems implanted with successful results in terms of quality of life and physical resilience means that more and more people are being discharged from hospital to live at home with an artificial heart. This puts high requirements on affected persons' disease and therapy management ­ a subject which has attracted very little qualitative research to date. Aim: This study therefore sought to shed light on how people with mechanical circulatory support experience their everyday lives. The aim was to document the subjective associations of those affected from an insider perspective. Methods: Following the interpretative phenomenological paradigm, narrative interviews were conducted with two female and eight male participants. For qualitative analysis, a multi-step process guided by the methodology of hermeneutic philosophy was used. Results: The qualitative data analysis revealed five main topic areas. These describe patients' state of health after implantation and the various adjustments, constraints and pressures necessitated by their illness and therapeutic requirements. On this basis, coping and management strategies are identified. Other significant aspects of patients' everyday lives are social interaction and environment and health care with an artificial heart. Conclusions: The findings add to our knowledge of the day-to-day lives of people with mechanical circulatory support systems, giving us a better understanding of their specific situation.

Living with a total artificial heart: patients' perspectives.

BACKGROUND: Advances in mechanical circulatory support have reduced morbidity and mortality in end-stage heart failure. To date, there have been no published studies examining the psychosocial impact on patients who are supported with a total artificial heart (TAH-t). PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experience of patients currently supported by the TAH-t awaiting transplant. METHODS: A qualitative method using Giorgi's modification of phenomenologic inquiry guided the investigation, which was conducted at a transplant center located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. A purposive sample was selected to reflect participants currently supported by the TAH-t. All participants (9 men, 1 woman; mean age, 48.2 years; nonischemic etiology, 80%) were in-patients on the progressive care unit at the time of the interview and had been supported for at least 30 days. The mean length of device therapy was 84.7 days (range, 33-245 days). FINDINGS: Hope for the future was the overarching theme. Subthemes included reflections, for better or for worse, the secret club, and coping and adaptation. The patients reflected on severity of illness, progress, and expressed optimism. For better or for worse described how symptoms improved but were offset by restrictions imposed by the technology. The secret club described the support provided to help deal with their life situation. Coping and adaptation suggested that the patients came to terms with and accepted their circumstances. CONCLUSIONS: The findings will help clinicians understand patients experiencing a life-changing situation and implications for psychosocial interventions.

Prolegomena to any future mereology of the body.

Many bioethical arguments rely implicitly on the assumption that the concept of "human part" is one on which everyone must agree, because it is unambiguous. But various parties interpret this "unambiguous" term in incompatible ways, leading to contention. This article is an informal presentation of a topomereological system on whose preferred interpretation several distinct but related meanings of "human part" can be isolated: part of a human body, part of the completion of a human body, and part of a human being. A case is analyzed (the first total artificial heart (TAH) implantation), demonstrating in the process much of the apparatus of the system. By means of a casuistic methodology, the analysis is translated into recommendations for the ethical conduct of future TAH research. The more general conclusion, however, is that formal methods may provide useful tools for clarifying thought processes and organizing arguments in debates over bioethical issues.

[Actual role of cardiocirculatory assistance in heart failure treatment]. / Ruolo attuale dell'assistenza cardiocircolatoria nel trattamento dell'insufficienza cardiaca.

Patients with end-stage heart failure have poor quality of life and a poor prognosis. These patients are usually burdened by symptoms at rest, the need for frequent hospital admissions, complex pharmacological therapies and a 1-year mortality rate of about 50%. Therapeutic options are scarce and not available for all. Only few patients can be transplanted. Alternative medical and surgical therapies have shown limited ability to influence prognosis and quality of life. In the past years, technological progress has brought to the clinician mechanical devices capable of providing short/medium and long-term circulatory assistance. Clinical evidence of long-term survival without device-correlated adverse events using last generation small axial pumps, allows us to evaluate its use in patients with contraindications or inaccessibility to transplantation.

The ventricular assist device patient.

This article provides an overview of ventricular assist devices, which are mechanical pumps that circulate blood within the body. At the present time, these devices are used to provide a "bridge to transplantation" of the heart or to maintain adequate circulation while the heart recovers from injury. Permanent implantation of these devices may soon become a reality. Use of this technology can tremendously impact the recipient's life and adaptation to their circumstances may be difficult. Topics related to the process of adjustment are presented. These include quality of life issues such as optimization of patient care, dealing with the occurrence of complications, limitations in mobility, and possible termination of support. Facing these issues requires great courage and will likely affect personal growth and deepen relationships. Caregivers can be instrumental in helping to meet the basic physical, emotional and spiritual needs of these patients.

Nursing considerations for the patient with a total artificial heart.

At our institution, the TAH has been identified as a valuable support to a select subgroup of individuals with end-stage heart disease as a bridge to transplantation. Length of implantation has varied from 1 to 48 days in the PUH series. Management of the care of the TAH-implanted patient requires a collaborative effort by nurses, physicians, and biomedical engineers. Nurses caring for the patient must have extensive knowledge of postoperative care of the high-risk cardiac surgical patient that is supplemented by the specialized knowledge of TAH function and monitoring. We have identified specialized components to the nursing care of the patient following TAH implantation. Monitoring for hemorrhage is important in the immediate postoperative period; anticoagulation and assessment of possible embolic events are later considerations. Knowledge of the relationship between TAH function and changing preload and afterload enhances the nurses' interpretation of COMDU and hemodynamic monitoring parameters, and is essential when applied to other nursing interventions, such as patient positioning and mobilization. Nursing-care measures to prevent atelectasis or consolidation are essential to prevention of pneumonia. Prevention of infection is crucial to facilitate transplantation. Practice of aseptic technique with particular care to drive-line insertion sites is necessary. Pain management, as well as nutritional and psychologic support, are important to promote patient well-being (a nursing-care plan is outlined in Table 1). The goals of all nursing-care measures are an improved perfusion state as offered by the TAH, prevention of possible complications associated with TAH implantation, and prevention of possible complications of critical illness and immobility. The desired outcome is a patient with a stabilized or improving condition prior to cardiac transplantation. It has been exciting to participate in the development of nursing-care guidelines for a patient population that has little precedent. The TAH creates a symbiotic relationship between man and machine, and nursing-care responsibilities have grown to encompass the mechanical aspects of this relationship. Satisfaction has increased as well, as the nurse is able to provide a specialized service in the provision of a life-saving therapy and be a vital element in the successful implementation of an artificial-heart program. As advances are made in the development of mechanical devices that assist or replace the human heart, ongoing evaluation and refinement of nursing care guidelines are essential.