Traditional visits to environments interesting from a cultural point of view are based on technologies that do not pennit flexibility and modification to the visit itself on the basis of the visitors' profile. Software agents running on personal mobile devices can overcome such limitations and lead to achieve personalised visits. The innovative technology based on mobile agents seems to well fi...

Although an estimated 16,500 Americans annually could benefit from a heart transplant, in 1999 only 2184 heart transplants were performed in the United States. These statistics emphasize the severity of the shortage of available hearts for transplantation. Circulatory support provided by an implantable Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) that meets Food and Drug Administration approval as des...

Patients with end-stage congestive heart failure awaiting heart transplantation often wait long periods of time (300 days or more on the average) before a suitable donor heart becomes available. The medical community has placed increased emphasis on the use of Left Ventricular Assist Devices or LVADs that can substitute for, or enhance, the function of the natural heart while the patient is wai...

PLEASE NOTE: Contracts exclude from coverage, among other things, services or procedures that are considered investigational or cosmetic. Providers may bill members for services or procedures that are considered investigational or cosmetic. Providers are encouraged to inform members before rendering such services that the members are likely to be financially responsible for the cost of these se...

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are increasingly being used as a bridge to heart transplantation or destination therapy. It is unclear which antithrombotic regimen should be used to reduce the risk of stroke. We systematically reviewed the literature on all types of antithrombotic regimens and stroke in patients with any type of LVADs. Our primary outcome measure was the mean incidence ...

Background—Ventricular assist devices (VADs) are important bridges to cardiac transplantation. VAD support may also function as a bridge to ventricular recovery (BTR); however, clinical predictors of recovery and long-term outcomes remain uncertain. We examined the prevalence, characteristics, and outcomes of BTR subjects in a large single center series. Methods and Results—We implanted VADs in...

Mechanical circulatory assist devices have been used in clinical practice as a bridge to transplantation since the late 1960s. In 1982, the first totally artificial heart designated as permanent therapy was implanted, but relatively few totally artificial hearts are implanted today. In the last several years, there has been a shift toward the use of left ventricular assist devices as a bridge t...