CARDIAC SURGERY / CARDIOLOGY by EDITORS on Jun 30, 2014 • 12:34 pm

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have come a long way in the last decade, keeping people with heart failure alive, including Vice President Dick Cheney, much longer than many thought possible. Not only have they been getting smaller, but they’ve been getting better at augmenting cardiac output while preventing clot formation. A new LVAD has hit the European market that’s smaller than any other and that has unique hemodynamic properties to optimize functionality for the benefit of patients. Last month ReliantHeart (Houston, TX) received the European CE Mark for its new HeartAssist5 pump and the device has just been implanted for the first time in a patient. It weighs only 3.3 ounces (92 grams) and features pulsatility transfer so that the blood vessels continue to feel a normal pulse generated by the heart itself. Perhaps more importantly, the HeartAssist5 pairs with the HeartAssistRemote Monitoring System that is capable of continuously sending patient data (direct blood flow measurement) to a cardiologist. The HeartAssist5 is still an investigational device in the United States and a U.S. trial is scheduled to begin later this year. Here’s an animation describing the implantation procedure for the HeartAssist5: