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Updated: May 19, 2026

Use of Two Intracorporeal Ventricular Assist Devices As a Total Artificial Heart
Published on: May 11, 2018
Pulsatile vs. continuous flow in ventricular assist device therapy
Gabriel Loor1, Gonzalo Gonzalez-Stawinski
1Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Cleveland Clinic, OH, USA.
Abstract:
A left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is an important treatment option for a patient with end-stage heart failure. Both continuous and non-pulsatile devices are available, each with different effects on a patient's physiology. In general, these effects are not clinically significant with the exception of bleeding events which are more common with continuous-flow devices in some series. Both devices increase survival beyond medical management. Continuous-flow devices are smaller and are associated with less overall morbidity than pulsatile devices.
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