Rise of the Machines — Left Ventricular Assist Devices as Permanent Therapy for Advanced Heart Failure

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Abstract
Traditionally, the only definitive therapy for patients who have advanced, medically refractory heart failure was replacement of the heart with another human heart. However, transplantation is an inadequate option in light of the large number of potential candidates, the lack of donors, and the coexisting conditions that make most potential candidates ineligible for transplantation. In this context, ventricular assist devices, or heart pumps, become an attractive option for patients who have advanced heart failure.Rather than replacing the human heart completely, ventricular assist devices serve in a true “assistance” capacity by supplementing the cardiac output of the native but weakened . . .