Pro: The total artificial heart: Is it an appropriate replacement for existing biventricular assist devices?

摘要

CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE (CHF) defines the end-point of cardiac dysfunction in most cardiac diseases, and while advancements in medical therapy have been promising, the incidence of CHF is approximately 500,000 per year, and it is estimated that nearly 5 million patients in the U.S. suffer from some degree of heart failure. In fact, annual healthcare costs are up to $38.1 billion; and in the United States, $500 million per year, is spent on medical drug treatment for heart failure.1 Despite the best efforts of medical and surgical care, nearly 300,000 patients die of heart failure as a primary or contributory cause each year.1 Patients continue to decline in health, have a decline in quality of life, require increased hospitalizations, and ultimately succumb prematurely to their illness. While heart transplantation remains a viable solution for these patients, shortages in donor supply have limited transplants to fewer than 2,500 per year. Since 2005, the number of active new adult candidates on the heart transplant waiting list increased by 19.2%. Currently, it is estimated that up to 50,000 people per year die while waiting for a transplant. Of patients on the heart transplant list in 2008, 11.6% died after 36 months while still waiting for an available transplantation.