Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) program in Chile: first successful experience in South America

Chile has a vast history of cardiac surgery, particularly in the field of heart transplantation (HT). As a matter of fact, the year 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the first HT surgery in the country, performed on July 28th, 1968 by Dr. Jorge Kaplan, in the region of Valparaíso only 6 months after the world’s first HT by Dr. Christiaan Barnard in South Africa. A few years later, Dr. Kaplan created the department of cardiovascular surgery in our hospital, located in the city of Vi？a del Mar. This unit is now responsible for the treatment of patients diagnosed with end-stage heart failure (ES-HF) over a population of more than 10 million beneficiaries of the Chilean public health care system