Patent ID: 8048016

Claim:
A therapeutic method for treating a human subject, the method comprising: (1) selecting a human subject suffering from at least one condition selected from: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, systemic arterial hypertension, hypotension, respiratory failure, pulmonary arterial hypertension, lung fibrosis, and adult respiratory distress syndrome, (2) implanting an arterio-venous shunt device between an artery and vein of said subject, wherein said shunt device is adapted to divert a portion of the subject's blood from the arterial circulatory system to the venous circulatory system, provide a blood flow rate through said shunt device of at least 5 ml/min, and wherein implantation of said shunt device results in a decrease of the systemic vascular resistance and an increase in the cardiac output in said subject.