title: State of the art. Circulatory support.
abstract: Beginning in midlife, chronic congestive heart failure (CCHF) is a major health problem in the United States. For patients over 65, the costs incurred in treating CCHF are vast, accounting for the highest hospitalization charges among all DRG's for Medicare patients. Heart transplants are an important but insufficient solution to the problem. Consistent progress is being made in the development of left ventricular assist devices, and, along with preventive and other therapeutic approaches, left ventricular assist devices have the potential for being a significant part of the solution for CCHF.
authors.affiliation: Sinai Hospital of Detroit, Michigan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kantrowitz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001243:Assisted Circulation / Q000191:economics; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged