Artificial heart transplants.
The use of a mechanical device to support a failing heart is one of the greatest challenges in cardiothoracic practice. Many different approaches are being considered, but they share the use of many advanced engineering principles. Power supplies and the interface between artificial surfaces and the blood remain areas of difficulty. The accent is moving from console driven devices with drive lines which must cross the body wall to reach the pump, towards smaller control packs, with inductive coupling to fully contained pumps. More attention is focused on the use of axial pumps lying within the lumena of the great vessels and the ventricles. Despite the wideheld belief that mechanical pumps must confer survival advantage to the recipients, there has been no prospective study demonstrating any advantage over medical management of the failing heart. Economic considerations must be taken into account if the technology is to be available to everyone with heart failure.
Dunning
J
J
Cardiothoracic Surgical Unit, Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, UK.
D004867:Equipment Design; D005544:Forecasting; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000628:therapy; D006354:Heart, Artificial / Q000009:adverse effects; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans