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Updated: May 17, 2026
08:49
Use of Two Intracorporeal Ventricular Assist Devices As a Total Artificial Heart
Published on: May 11, 2018
Continuous flow left ventricular assist devices: a valid option for heart failure patients
Thierry Carrel1, Lars Englberger, Michele V Martinelli
1Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland. thierry.carrel@insel.ch
Swiss Medical Weekly
|November 9, 2012
Summary
New mechanical circulatory support systems offer advanced treatment strategies for end-stage heart failure. Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) can bridge patients to heart transplantation or serve as definitive therapy, improving outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Medical Engineering
Background:
- End-stage heart failure (HF) management has advanced with mechanical circulatory support (MCS) systems.
- Implantable left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) offer alternatives to heart transplantation (HTx), enabling hemodynamic stabilization and organ recovery.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review current knowledge on LVADs and continuous flow devices.
- To present institutional experience with LVAD implantation at Berne University Hospital (2000-2012).
Main Methods:
- Review of current literature on LVADs and continuous flow devices.
- Analysis of institutional data on short-term and long-term LVAD, RVAD, and bi-VAD implantations.
Main Results:
- LVADs serve as bridge-to-recovery, bridge-to-transplantation, or destination therapy.
- Institutional experience included ~150 short-term devices and 129 long-term devices (85 pulsatile, 44 non-pulsatile).
- One-year mortality decreased to 10.4% in the last 58 patients after an initial learning curve.
Conclusions:
- LVADs are crucial for managing end-stage heart failure, offering options for patients awaiting transplantation or unsuitable for it.
- Continuous flow devices have become increasingly utilized worldwide.
- Despite surgical challenges, LVAD implantation demonstrates improving survival rates.
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