Abstract
Intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation belongs among standard methods for mechanical heart support. The principle of counterpulsation is the synchronous inflating and deflating the balloon being placed in thne descending aorta during the heart action.
The treatment effect is to decrease cardiac work, myocardial oxygen consumption and to increase coronary perfusion. Own experience with this method at the Department of Cardiac Surgery of University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove is describe in this paper