(Also known as LVAD)

What is a left ventricular assist device (LVAD)?

The left ventricle is the large, muscular chamber of the heart that pumps blood out to the body. A left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a battery-operated, mechanical pump-type device that's surgically implanted. It helps maintain the pumping ability of a heart that can't effectively work on its own.

These devices are available in most heart transplant centers.

When is an LVAD used?

This device is sometimes called a "bridge to transplant," but is now used in long-term therapy. People awaiting a heart transplant often must wait a long time before a suitable heart becomes available. During this wait, the patient's already-weakened heart may deteriorate and become unable to pump enough blood to sustain life. An LVAD can help a weak heart and "buy time" for the patient or eliminate the need for a heart transplant. Most recently, LVADs are being used longer-term as ‘destination therapy’ in end-stage heart failure patients when heart transplantation is not an option.

How does an LVAD work?

A common type of LVAD has a tube that pulls blood from the left ventricle into a pump. The pump then sends blood into the aorta (the large blood vessel leaving the left ventricle). This effectively helps the weakened ventricle. The pump is placed in the upper part of the abdomen. Another tube attached to the pump is brought out of the abdominal wall to the outside of the body and attached to the pump's battery and control system. LVADs are now portable and are often used for weeks to months. Patients with LVADs can be discharged from the hospital and have an acceptable quality of life while waiting for a donor heart to become available.

Promising study results for LVADs

In a study published in Circulation in 2005, LVADs restored failing hearts in some patients with heart failure, eliminating the need for a transplant. According to an abstract presented at the American Heart Association's 2005 Scientific Sessions, LVADs reduced the risk of death in end-stage heart failure patients by 50 percent at six and 12 months and extended the average life span from 3.1 months to more than 10 months.
 
 

(Also known as LVAD)

What is a left ventricular assist device (LVAD)?

The left ventricle is the large, muscular chamber of the heart that pumps blood out to the body. A left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a battery-operated, mechanical pump-type device that's surgically implanted. It helps maintain the pumping ability of a heart that can't effectively work on its own.

These devices are available in most heart transplant centers.

When is an LVAD used?

This device is sometimes called a "bridge to transplant," but is now used in long-term therapy. People awaiting a heart transplant often must wait a long time before a suitable heart becomes available. During this wait, the patient's already-weakened heart may deteriorate and become unable to pump enough blood to sustain life. An LVAD can help a weak heart and "buy time" for the patient or eliminate the need for a heart transplant. Most recently, LVADs are being used longer-term as ‘destination therapy’ in end-stage heart failure patients when heart transplantation is not an option.

How does an LVAD work?

A common type of LVAD has a tube that pulls blood from the left ventricle into a pump. The pump then sends blood into the aorta (the large blood vessel leaving the left ventricle). This effectively helps the weakened ventricle. The pump is placed in the upper part of the abdomen. Another tube attached to the pump is brought out of the abdominal wall to the outside of the body and attached to the pump's battery and control system. LVADs are now portable and are often used for weeks to months. Patients with LVADs can be discharged from the hospital and have an acceptable quality of life while waiting for a donor heart to become available.

Promising study results for LVADs

In a study published in Circulation in 2005, LVADs restored failing hearts in some patients with heart failure, eliminating the need for a transplant. According to an abstract presented at the American Heart Association's 2005 Scientific Sessions, LVADs reduced the risk of death in end-stage heart failure patients by 50 percent at six and 12 months and extended the average life span from 3.1 months to more than 10 months.
 
 

(Also known as Artificial Pacemaker)

What the Procedure Does
A small device that has wires which are implanted in the heart tissue to send electrical impulses that help the heart beat in a regular rhythm. The device is powered by a battery.

Reason for the Procedure

• When the heart's "natural pacemaker" is defective and causes the heart to beat too fast, too slow or irregularly, a pacemaker helps the heart beat in a regular rhythm.

Learn more:

• Living With Your Pacemaker
• Download a Pacemaker I.D. Card that will tell the people helping you that you have a pacemaker in an emergency.

(Also known as ICD)

What the Procedure Does
A device that has wires which are implanted into the heart tissue and can deliver electrical shocks, detect the rhythm of the heart and sometimes "pace" the heart's rhythms, as needed.

Reason for the Procedure

• Used in patients at risk for recurrent, sustained ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation.
• Restores the heart to normal rhythm.
• Helps prevent sudden cardiac death.