A Left Ventricular Assist Device,
is a mechanical pump that supports the failing heart.
And we call it left because it predominantly
is supporting the left side of the heart.
For the most part, these are implantable pumps,
that are electrically driven,
that have to continuously flow,
because there's no valves.
And they take the blood out of the main pumping chamber,
the left ventricle.
And they pump the blood into the aorta.
Thereby assisting someone who has a heart that's failing.
Once we've determined that a patient has failed medicine,
they failed, whether it be bypass surgery or angioplasty,
if they have what's called
ischemic heart disease bad circulation.
Or if they have valvular disease
that is not responsive to any type of intervention.
But their heart muscle is failing.
And they've been deemed a candidate
by our multidisciplinary team
that this therapy is appropriate,
then we plan the procedure.
These pumps can be used for people
if they are in need of a heart transplant,
and can be optimized for cardiac transplantation.
It's an operation that involves accessing the heart.
So we typically will open the chest.
We'll get to the apex of their heart,
which is the bottom of the main pumping chamber.
And we will physically sew a cuff.
And it's what we call it a sewing cuff,
because we sew it and it's a cuff.
And we connect it to the bottom of the heart.
And then we make a hole in the heart,
and we remove a small portion of heart muscle,
and through the cuff and through that small hole
that we've made we implant the pump.
Then that pump is connected to a cloth graft.
And that graft is connected to the main blood vessel
within the chest the aorta.
These pumps are electrically driven.
So there's an electrical cord
that comes out of the pump.
And we bury that electrical cord
in the subcutaneous tissue of their abdominal wall.
And then we connect it to the power source.
The patients recover in the intensive care unit.
They're awake soon after the procedure.
And then each day we get them up and rehabilitated.
So cardiac rehab is involved early.
We ask in concert with our physical therapists
to get the patients up,
to get them moving around.
Walking is one of the best activities for them.
And the more we get them up and walk
the quicker they recover.
The recovery process involves
not only their physical recovery,
their nutritional recovery,
and an education on what it takes
for them to help care for themselves.
Not only in the care of the Ventricular Assist Device,
but also an understanding,
why they've developed heart failure.
And seeing if there are things that we can do to
help modify their lifestyle,
to try and prevent any further progression of their disease.
We have a specialized group of nurses,
they're called Ventricular Assist Device coordinators,
VAD coordinators.
Who understand the technology,
and they function like the primary physicians in a sense.
They work in concert with the advanced heart failure team.
They work in concert with our surgical team.
And they work with our consultants
to help us manage the coordination of care,
that's required for these patients.
They help us educate the patients and their family,
of what it takes to support this type of technology .
We have a great team of people that we work with.
And through that team,
we can almost immediately transform the life of a patient.
Someone who is critically ill,
who can't do anything,
who has multi-system dysfunction.
We can apply a technology,
that changes their life immediately.
And we see that right away.
And to see that patient,
and just the thanks that that patient has,
it's just such a great thing to see.
To be able to help someone in that capacity,
is really something special.
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