Implantable Mechanical Circulatory Support: Demystifying Patients With Ventricular Assist Devices and Artificial Hearts

摘要

Engineering advancements have expanded the role for mechanical circulatory support devices in the patient with heart failure. More patients with mechanical circulatory support are being discharged from the implanting institution and will be seen by clinicians outside the immediate surgical or heart‐failure team. This review provides a practical understanding of device design and physiology, general troubleshooting, and limitations and complications for implantable left ventricular assist devices (pulsatile‐flow and continuous‐flow pumps) and the total artificial heart. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Dr. Vigneshwar Kasirajan and Dr. Michael Hess receives a consulting honorarium from SynCardia Systems, Inc. The authors have no other funding, financial relationships, or conflicts of interest to disclose.