Heart Transplantation After Left Ventricular Assist Device

摘要

Congestive heart failure is a devastating clinical syndrome, which affects millions of individuals. In fact, half of the individuals diagnosed with congestive heart failure die within 5 years of diagnosis.1 The best treatment option for individuals with end-stage heart failure is heart transplantation; however, the effectiveness of this modality is limited by a donor shortage. Because of the discrepancy between the number of potential recipients and available donors, an increasing number of patients have been bridged to transplant with mechanical circulatory support, particularly left ventricular assist devices (LVAD).