Effective ventricular unloading by left ventricular assist device varies with stage of heart failure: cardiac simulator study.

Although the use of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) as a bridge-to-recovery (BTR) has shown promise, clinical success has been limited due to the lack of understanding the timing of implantation, acute/chronic device setting, and explantation. This study investigated the effective ventricular unloading at different heart conditions by using a mock circulatory system (MCS) to provide a tool for pump parameter adjustments. We tested the hypothesis that effective unloading by LVAD at a given speed varies with the stage of heart failure.