Ventricular Assist Devices

For patients with advanced congestive heart failure who have not been helped with medications, a ventricular assist device (VAD) may be a treatment option. This surgically implanted medical pump is designed to pump blood throughout the body, taking over much of the heart’s work.

A VAD may be used as a "bridge" to heart transplant, or as a primary treatment, known as destination therapy, for advanced heart failure patients not eligible for heart transplantation. VADs have been proven in clinical trials to significantly improve quality of life.

Yale New Haven Hospital is one of the most experienced VAD locations in the Northeast and United States, with heart failure cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons who are experts in implantation and long-term care of patients with VADs.

Our specialists can evaluate your condition and recommend the best treatment approach and type of pump for you. We also provide clinical trials which test the next generation of pumps.

Yale New Haven Hospital is certified by The Joint Commission, the nation's predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in health care, to implant left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) into patients with end-stage heart failure as a permanent or destination therapy, not just as a temporary bridge to transplant.