Surviving with an "artificial heart". Experience of supportive psychotherapy with a 30 year old female patient

In addition to bridging until the planned heart transplant operation the "artificial heart" is being used increasingly as a temporary support in cases of acute heart failure caused by myocarditis. The following article is a description of psychotherapeutical intervention in the form of supportive psychotherapy carried out on a 30 year old female patient who was connected for 17 days, in an intensive care unit, to a ventricular assist device (VAD). From a psychosocial point of view the main factors which contributed to the successful outcome were the patient's trust in the doctors' methods of treatment, the positive social and emotional support from those involved in her treatment and from her family, the verbalization of concerns, fantasies and emotions and the promotion of the patient's "fighting spirit". This case study is a model-based description of psychotherapeutic intervention possibilities as part of bio-psychosocial treatment in patients with an artificial heart.