Fig. 6 The effects of the pump speed on the total cardiac output (right ventricular outflow-tract flow), aortic valve output (left ventricular outflow-tract flow), and pump flow in 11 patients with the Jarvik 2000 left ventricular assist device. All values are averages derived from 28 studies in 11 patients and are corrected for body surface area. As the pump speed increased, the pump flow and total cardiac output increased, while flow through the aortic valve decreased. In many cases, the aortic valve remained closed at high pump speeds, and the entire cardiac output occurred through the device.