title: State of the art and future trends in heart transplantation and ventricular assist devices.
abstract: The authors present a short review of the milestones in clinical heart transplantation and the prerequisites they regarded as indispensable to be able to start a clinical programme in their own centre. Next, they describe various types of ventricular assist devices (VAD) and the indications for their use. In conclusion, the authors discuss the prospects of, and future trends in, heart transplantation and VAD that have become, despite their short history, a clinical reality and whose practical importance is to grow further.
authors.affiliation: Transplantation and Cardiovascular Research Programmes, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czechoslovakia.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kocandrle
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fabián
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Firt
mesh_terms: D001243:Assisted Circulation / Q000639:trends*; D005544:Forecasting; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans