About the book
Heart failure has devastating consequences with a prevalence of over 5.8 million in the USA, and over 23 million worldwide and affecting up to 7.4 per 100,000 children per year. Etiologies of heart failure substantially differ in adult and pediatric patients due to various congenital heart defects, genetic disorders such as syndromic cardiomyopathies, and acquired heart diseases including myocarditis, Kawasaki disease, and endocarditis that are prevalent in pediatric patients. Mechanical circulatory support mainly represented by ventricular assist devices (VADs) has been demonstrated to be efficient in the management of advanced heart failure despite the challenges of unique anatomical and pathophysiological features frequently encountered in adult and pediatric populations. It has been demonstrated that the utilization of VADs in heart failure has currently forward-looking to bridge patients to 1) heart transplant, 2) recovery, or 3) destination therapy. The gap between adult and pediatric VAD therapy is tightening as the result of preclinical translational modeling, clinical research, and advanced technical improvements.
This book will aim to deliver a concise picture of the management and outcomes of advanced heart failure in adult and pediatric patients with emphasis on mechanical circulatory support with VADs. Preclinical animal studies as the experimental platform for demonstrating device safety, reliability, and biocompatibility as well as for elucidating the cellular and molecular responses and underlying mechanisms of reverse remodeling of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and progressive atrophy to mechanical unloading will also be covered.