Review highlights advances in mechanical circulatory support for end-stage heart failure, suggesting evolving technology could increasingly delay or replace donor heart transplantation.
Heart transplantation remains the gold standard for long-term cardiac replacement, but a shortage of donor organs will always limit this option. For both transplant-eligible and noneligible patients, advances in mechanical circulatory support have revolutionized the options for the management of end-stage heart failure, and this technology continues to bring us closer to a true alternative to heart transplantation. This review provides a perspective on the past, present and future of mechanical circulatory support and addresses the changes in technology, patient selection and management strategies needed to have this therapy fully embraced by the heart failure community, and perhaps replace heart transplantation either as the therapy of choice or as a strategy by which to delay transplantation in younger patients.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Moazami et al. (2013) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: