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FOCUS ON RESEARCH Previous Volume 357:846-849 August 30, 2007 Number 9 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Even with well-managed care, many patients with severe heart failure reach a stage at which medical therapy is insufficient to sustain an acceptable level of cardiac function. It is estimated that 0.2% of persons over 45 years of age in the United States, or nearly 200,000 people, may fit this description.¹ Since only approximately 2000 donor hearts are available in the United States each year for transplantation, the need for another approach to cardiac replacement is well established.

Investigators and the medical-device industry have been pursuing the development of mechanical cardiac support for more than four decades. The earliest forms . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Source Information

Dr. Baughman is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Advanced Heart Disease Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital (both in Boston) and an associate editor of the Journal. Dr. Jarcho is a deputy editor of the Journal.

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• (2007). Study Results Demonstrate Feasibility of a Continuous-Flow LV Assist Device. Journal Watch Cardiology 2007: 1-1 [Full Text]