Left Ventricular Assist Devices at the Crossroad of Innovation in Advanced Heart Failure

Two decades ago, the nascent field of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) encountered a paradigm shift. The older, bulkier devices which provided suitable circulatory support for short-term life prolongation in severe heart failure were plagued by poor device durability and a high burden of morbidity. Bioengineers developed continuous flow devices which were small in profile, had few moving parts and, as a consequence, exhibited greater durability. Clinical trials demonstrated a marked improvement in survival compared with older generation pumps, and patients approaching refractoriness to neurohormonal therapy with advanced heart failure now had an off the shelf option in contradistinction to the limited availability of heart transplantation, the only two treatments demonstrated to offer a gain in quality adjusted life years (1,2).
Source: Journal of Cardiac Failure - Category: Cardiology Authors: Source Type: research