Mechanical circulatory support device database of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation.

Over the last 2 decades, mechanical circulatory support devices have been developed at a rapid pace with the goal of supporting patients with advanced heart failure as a bridge to cardiac transplantation, a bridge to recovery, and an alternative to transplantation, also called chronic or destination therapy. The current generation of devices provides a differentiated spectrum of circulatory support. The major limitations are infection, coagulopathies, and device dysfunction. The Scientific Council on Mechanical Circulatory Support of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation has established an international database (http://www.ishlt.org/regist_mcsd_main.htm) to generate critical data to advance knowledge about effectiveness of mechanical circulatory support device therapy for one of the most difficult and costly contemporary medical problems, the malignant syndrome of advanced heart failure.