Minimally invasive approaches for implantation of left ventricular assist devices.

The era of intracorporal continuous flow pumps has initiated significant success of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) surgery. However, median sternotomy has been the only surgical approach for implantation over many years. During the last decade, less-invasive access ways gained popularity. Within this review, we describe our own clinical experience in minimally invasive ventricular assist device (VAD) surgery and summarize the current scientific literature on this topic.