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www.fdanews.com/articles/82706-left-ventricular-assistant-devices-extend-lives-of-patients-too-sick-for-transplant

LEFT VENTRICULAR ASSISTANT DEVICES EXTEND LIVES OF PATIENTS TOO SICK FOR TRANSPLANT

November 28, 2005

Pumps implanted into the chest to maintain circulation can significantly extend the lives of the sickest patients in end-stage heart failure who are not candidates for heart transplantation, according to the results of a clinical trial led by Duke University Medical Center cardiologists. The pumps, known as left ventricular assistant devices (LVADs), are employed when the heart's left ventricle -- the chamber of the heart that pumps blood throughout the body -- is too weak to pump enough blood to nourish the body's tissues. LVADs have been used as successful short-term "bridges to heart transplant" and are increasingly being considered as a long-term heart failure destination therapy, said the researchers.

NewsMedical.net (http://www.news-medical.net/print_article.asp?id=14682)