Initial 3-year outcomes with left ventricular assist devices in a country with a nascent heart transplantation program.

Aims: The need for the left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) in patients with end-stage heart failure is well established, but prior to 2011, this was not available to patients in Kazakhstan. We describe the development of the sole LVAD programme in the context of a nascent heart transplantation programme and clinical outcomes for the first three years.

Methods And Results: From November 2011 to November 2014, 146 patients underwent implantation of 152 VADs (approximately 50 devices implanted per year).