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Heart failure can cause shortness of breath, buildup of excess fluid in body tissues, fatigue, impaired thinking and an increased heart rate, which often times can leave patients bedridden. The annual cost for treating heart failure exceeds $38 billion annually, which includes more than $20 billion in hospital days alone.¹ The VAD is a mechanical pump that temporarily assists a weakened heart to pump blood throughout the body in cases of heart failure.
There are several types of VAD systems. Some provide support for acute heart failure, others are used to “bridge” patients to heart transplantation, and others mechanically support patients during the final stages of life, known as destination therapy. Some VADs are placed internally and others remain outside the patient’s body. The range of VAD systems available enables physicians to select the VAD best designed to treat each patient’s condition.
VADs were first developed in the 1960s. The first VAD system was called a ventricular bypass, because it routed blood through a spherical pump outside the body instead of through the left ventricle. This system limited patient’s movement and caused several complications, including infection.² Over the years, these devices have become smaller and more efficient.
Recently there has been increased awareness on the use of VADs to recover hearts that are experiencing an acute, temporary failure rather than a chronic decline over time. To date, more than 8,000 patients worldwide have been supported with these devices for FDA approved indications, including myocarditis.
In cases of acute, temporary failure, VADs are inserted into the right, left or both ventricles via a slender tube and allow the heart to recover and avoid a heart transplant.
Although the patient it either asleep or sedated, the VAD allows the body to regain strength daily, while assisting the heart and leaving other organs well nourished. Allowed to rest, the native heart can recover from acute heart failure, resume normal function and the VAD can be removed, returning the patient to his or her normal life.
Researchers have begun to investigate the possibility of a VAD that could be fully implantable and permanent, very much like a total replacement heart. Every year there are more than 8,000 people worldwide on the list of eligible candidates for heart transplants, but less than 4,000 will receive a transplant due to the limited number of hearts available.³

The Health Alliance. “About Heart Failure.” http://www.health-alliance.com/learnabout/learn_failure.htm (8 May 2006).
Howard Hughes Medical Institute. “Heart-Assist Devices.” http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/museum/exhibit98/content/h13info.html (8 May 2006).
Terumo Heart, Inc. “Statistics about Heart Transplants.” http://www.terumoheart.com/failure.asp (21 April 2006).