Heart pump extends patients’ survival
By Nathan Seppa
Of the heart’s four chambers, the left ventricle does the heavy lifting, thrusting blood to distant parts of the body. In people with the disease called heart failure, this flow becomes feeble and extreme weakness and fatigue result.
Scientists have developed implantable mechanical pumps that can take over the left ventricle’s duty. Physicians have used these devices as a last resort to keep a patient alive until a donor heart becomes available for transplant.
Researchers now report that these so-called left ventricular assist devices can also significantly extend the lives of terminally ill heart-failure patients who are ineligible for transplants.