The Present Status of Assisted Circulation. Introduction

Abstract

It is now 10 years ago that the book Assisted Circulation and 4 years ago that the book Assisted Circulation 2 were issued by Springer-Verlag. The progress in replacing the heart which was made during those years is tremendous, as was evidenced by the content of the two books. The first volume reported on clinical experience with intra-aortic balloon pumping and on several clinical trials with ventricular assist devices. Most of the chapters dealt with animal experiments and considerations for clinical application, and most concluded with hope of a new clinical reality. The cardiac assist devices most frequently employed were pulsatile and were driven pneumatically.