Minimally Invasive Heart Failure Surgery

Abstract

The 2005 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guideline update for the diagnosis and management of chronic heart failure in the adult defines heart failure as a “complex clinical syndrome that can result from any structural or functional cardiac disorder that impairs the ability of the ventricle to fill with or eject blood”. Heart failure is a huge health care problem that becomes more prevalent with age. The main aim of the heart failure treatment strategy is to improve the cardiac output through various means. As far as surgery for heart failure is concerned, the approach for the improvement of cardiac output can be achieved either by removing the primary ventricular insult. Minimally invasive LVAD implantation techniques are associated with several benefits, namely lower rates of transfusion, smaller incisions, less intraoperative blood loss and less need for blood transfusion. The Acorn CoreCap is a device that achieves ventricular remodeling through reducing the wall shear stress of the heart.