title: [Mechanical cardiac assistance and artificial heart: historical perspectives].
abstract: The impact of heart failure on patients and economical burden on health insurance resources is increasing. Cardiac transplantation is still the primary treatment for patients who are in end stage heart failure. The development of artificial hearts (total and partial) was implemented by the discrepancy between the scarcity of available donors and the importance of waiting lists for cardiac transplantation. The technical progresses achieved since the first works of Kolff in 1957 now allow these patients to have their circulation restored and go home to wait for their transplantation. The encouraging results of the artificial heart and the miniaturization of these devices allow them to be considered as a possible destination therapy for patients not eligible for cardiac transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Service de chirurgie cardiovasculaire, hôpital européen Georges-Pompidou, 20-40, rue Leblanc, 75015 Paris, France. erwan.flecher@wanadoo.fr
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Flecher
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Joudinaud
authors.forename: J-M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Grinda
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002170:Canada; D002415:Cats; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D005858:Germany; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000266:history; D006354:Heart, Artificial / Q000266:history*; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D013019:South Africa; D016042:Transplantation, Heterotopic / Q000266:history; D014586:USSR; D014481:United States