Artificial Cardiac Assist Devices (VAD)
What is the artificial cardiac assist device?
Artificial Cardiac Assist devices are state-of-the-art devices that are helping the heart pumping blood in patients with end-stage heart failure. Artificial Cardiac Assist systems can be divided into 2 basic groups according to their lifespan. Systems that can support for several hours, days, or weeks can be grouped as short-term cardiac assist devices. Such devices may be used in a short time (a few days or weeks) for situations with possible recovery of acute heart failure (such as failure depends on the viral infection) or after cardiac resuscitation. In patients who needs longer than four or six weeks support long-term cardiac assist devices are used. These high-tech products devices can be used for many years.
Artificial cardiac assist devices are suitable for which patients?
Artificial cardiac assist devices are used with four major strategies in patients with sudden (acute) or progressive (chronic) end stage heart failure:
- In patients with sudden cardiac failure, there are short-term devices that are used to prevent the deterioration of other organ functions and to keep the patient alive until a long-term support system is implemented.
- In myocarditis (heart muscle inflammation due to causes such as viruses) , patients who suddenly develop heart failure but who are fully recovering from drug treatment have short-term devices that can be used to hold the patient's life in the period of severe illness.
- There are devices that are on a waiting list for heart transplantation but have been used for a long time in patients with heart failure progressing to the heart.
- Artificial cardiac assist devices can be used for lifelong use in order to increase the life span and quality of life of patients who can not be transferred due to various reasons (advanced age, kidney, liver disease).