23^rd European Heart Disease and Heart Failure Congress

Biography

Biography: Hermann Reichenspurner

Abstract

Heart transplantation has become an established clinical therapy for patients with end-stage heart failure. Internationally, the numbers have remained stable over the last years with more than 100.000 heart transplantations performed to date. However, in certain countries in Asia, but also within Europe, the number of heart transplantations has decreased significantly due to the shortage of suitable donor organs. Within Europe, there is a major difference between the different countries, mainly due to political and structural differences. For example, there are more than thirty organ donations per million population per year in Spain compared to only ten organ donations pmp in Germany. For this reason, the use of mechanical circulatory support systems has increased markedly over the last years and in certain countries, the number of LVAD implantations is more than 3 times higher than the number of heart transplantations. Mainly the use of continuous flow devices have improved the results after LVAD implantation. Modern axial flow- and centrifugal pumps have also led to a decrease in the incidence of the main postoperative complications, such as bleeding, cerebrovascular events and driveline infections. Looking at international registry data, the survival rates after LVAD implantations within the first 2 years are comparable and parallel to the figures after heart transplantation. During further follow-up, however, the results after heart transplantation are still better due to the previously mentioned complications after LVAD implantation. Mechanical circulatory support systems are continuously being revised and improved. Innovations, such as transcutaneous energy transfer with fully implantable devices and improved blood-pump interface preparations are on the horizon. Currently, there is still a long-term advantage for transplantation, but this may change in the future due to the use of improved devices