Comment on How does death with a mechanical/artificial heart work?
Photonic@lemmy.world 1 month agoThe absence of flow is what causes blood to clot. On top of that, people are continuously on strong anticoagulants (vitamin K antagonists) or heparin.
That being said, it is difficult to tell for sure and clotting would definitely occur in multiple places throughout the body as tissues and organs start to become necrotic, as would hemorrhage due to damaged blood vessels. But whether the actual pump itself would get blocked before the battery runs out, I don’t know.
quick_snail@feddit.nl 1 month ago
Hours?!?
Photonic@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yup, there is a cable running through their skin connected to battery packs outside of the body, so patients are always walking around with a bag containing the battery packs wherever they go.
quick_snail@feddit.nl 1 month ago
If it only lasts a couple hours, how do they sleep for more than 3 hours?
Photonic@lemmy.world 1 month ago
A couple maybe a bit of an understatement. It’s likely about 8-10 hours