Heart failure is a complex clinical syndrome that can result from any structural or functional cardiac disorder that impairs the ability of the ventricle to fill or eject blood. According to the data from the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation registry, the half-life of patient survival after heart transplantation has progressively improved from 8.9 years in 1982 to a proj...

Cardiac allotransplantation is now an established therapeutic modality for end-stage heart disease (1). Although the operative procedure remains essentially unchanged, recent advances in mechanical assist technology and significant advances in the medical therapy of congestive heart failure have changed heart transplantation from an “operation” to a definitive therapy among competing therapies ...

The period of preoperative management of the pediatric cardiac transplant patient can be divided into three phases: determination of transplant feasibility, listing, and medical management. Chronic infection, irreversible elevation of pulmonary vascular resistance, and intractable disease in other organ systems may all be contraindications for transplantation. The United Network for Organ Shari...

Data are expressed as median (IQR). Data are expressed as median (IQR). CVvt%, coefficient of variation of the tidal volume expressed as percentage.

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...

During the last 20 years, the management of heart failure has significantly improved by means of new pharmacotherapies, more timely invasive treatments and device assisted therapies. Indeed, advances in mechanical support, namely with the development of more efficient left ventricular assist devices (LVADs), and the total artificial heart have reduced mortality and morbidity in patients awaitin...

The left ventricular assist device was originally designed to be surgically implanted as a bridge to transplantation for patients with chronic end-stage heart failure. On the basis of the REMATCH trial, the US Food and Drug Administration and the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved permanent implantation of the left ventricular assist device as a destination therapy in Medicare...

Chronic heart failure is a dominant problem not only in cardiology but also from the political and economical points of view in civilized countries. The paper describes general and specific methods of heart failure therapy such as reconstruction of coronary artery disease, valve disease, cardiomyoplasty remodelling of left ventricular cavity, ventricular assist-control devices, artificial heart...