Mechanical circulatory support gained a significant value in the armamentarium of heart failure therapy because of the increased awareness of the prevalence of heart failure and the tremendous advances in the field of mechanical circulatory support during the last decades. Current device technologies already complement a heart transplant as the gold standard of treatment for patients with end-stage heart failure refractory to conservative medical therapy. This article reviews important aspects of mechanical circulatory support therapy and focuses on currently debated issues.
Keywords: Biventricular assist device; Left ventricular assist device; Mechanical circulatory report; Total artificial heart.
© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery.