Long-term mechanical assisted circulation devices

Abstract

Heart failure syndrome is the final presentation of a series of cardiac diseases. According to the Department of Informatics of the Brazilian National Health System (DATASUS), cardiovascular diseases are the third largest cause of hospitalizations in Brazil and heart failure is the main cause of cardiovascular hospital admissions in this country. Despite all the advances in treatments for heart failure, a significant proportion of such patients evolve to states of refractoriness to clinical treatment. In these situations, it becomes necessary to use advanced procedures such as heart transplantation and long-term mechanical assisted circulation devices.Heart transplantation is still the gold-standard treatment for refractory heart failure and the mean survival after this procedure is 11 years. 1 However, a large proportion of such patients cannot benefit from this procedure either because of contraindications or because of lack of availability of organs.