ABSTRACT
This chapter is about the origin, development and growing use of a device used to help heart failure patients, the Left Ventricular Assist Device, or LVAD for short. These devices are implanted in the body to assist failing hearts to do their pumping. Early versions of the LVAD began to be used in the late 1960s and since that time approximately 20,000 LVADS have been implanted around the world. As one would expect, today’s LVADs are very different from the early versions. They are much less prone to malfunction, more effective in enabling patients to live longer, and easier for them to live with in reasonable comfort. The implantation procedure has become simpler, more routine, and less dangerous for the patient.
