Advance in ventricular assist devices and current controversies

Advanced heart failure(AHF) is a global epidemic with high morbidity and mortality. Heart transplantation has been the main method for the treatment of AHF. However, for the extreme shortage of organ donations, heart transplantation is no obvious increase. Left ventricular assist devices(LVADs) have become a viable therapeutic approach as a bridge to heart transplantation, as well as destination therapy or part of the bridge to recovery. This review focuses on the therapeutic effect with VAD, current controversies and prospects.