The increasing use of ventricular assist devices (VADs) as bridges to transplant has changed the landscape of cardiac transplant. More than 50 percent of patients undergoing cardiac transplant are now bridged with a VAD. These devices can also be used as destination therapy for patients with advanced heart failure who are not good candidates for transplant, providing them a much-improved quality of life.

In this video, MUSC Health Heart Transplant Program Medical Director Ryan J. Tedford, M.D., and Surgical Director Lucian Lozonschi, M.D., discuss the profound effects these devices have had on the care of patients with advanced heart failure and why early referral is crucial.