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HVAD, a support heart that is used in the Netherlands

HVAD stands for Heartware Ventricular Assist Devise and is an LVAD developed by the firm Heartware. This company was taken over in 2016 by Medtronic

The HVAD has been implanted in the Netherlands since 2010. This was the first support heart to be used alongside the HeartMate II and has a number of advantages over the Heartmate II.

To begin with, this pump is much smaller, has a 'floating' mechanical drive and is implanted in the pericardium. This has proven to be a great advance over the Heartmate II which is an axially driven pump placed in the chest cavity, below the diaphragm. The successor to the Heartmate II is comparable to the HVAD, the Heartmate 3. The differences between the two are explained here.

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The HVAD is a pump that is placed in the heart like a 'pushpin'. the entire pump remains within the pericardium as does the outflow that goes to the Aorta.

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Full heart and pump inside
HVAD animatie 2

The metal part of the HVAD is placed in the left ventricle and by means of a 'floating' magnetically driven screw the blood is pumped from the left ventricle and pumped via a tube (the outflow) to the Aorta (body artery).

HVAD
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Blood flow
HVAD geïmplanteerd

The pump is controlled by the controller. This controller is located outside the body and is connected to the pump by means of an electricity cable that goes through the abdominal wall. The controller is powered by two batteries. In addition, there is also the option of power supply via the mains and the car battery.

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Controller HVAD HeartWare
Nachtstroom adapter
Batteries with Monitor and controller