Continuous-flow left ventricular assist device: Current knowledge, complications, and future directions
Javier Castrodeza, Carlos Ortiz-Bautista, Francisco Fernández-Avilés
Abstract
Long-term continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices have become a real alternative to heart transplantation in patients with advanced heart failure, achieving a promising 2-year event-free survival rate with new-generation devices. Currently, this technology has spread throughout the world, and any cardiologist or cardiac surgeon should be familiar with its fundamentals and its possible complications as well as the advances made in recent years. The aim of this review is to describe current knowledge, management of complications, and future directions of this novel heart-failure therapy.
Topics & Concepts
MedicineCardiologyInternal medicineHeart transplantationCurrent (fluid)Ventricular assist deviceIntensive care medicineTransplantationMEDLINEHeart failureManagement of heart failureMechanical Circulatory Support DevicesCardiac Structural Anomalies and RepairTransplantation: Methods and Outcomes