Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine has revealed how Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs) could remove the need for heart transplants.

Artificial hearts are usually used on patients awaiting a transplant after heart failure, however, with a combined course of drugs the LVAD could treat the problem itself.

The drugs, working with the LVAD, can shrink an enlarged heart and enable it to function once the LVAD is removed.

Dr Emma Birks, from the Heart Science Centre at Imperial and the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust, noted: "Donor heart transplant has for many years been the gold standard in the treatment of those with severe heart failure.

"It has proven greatly successful but is not without its shortcomings ? particularly the shortage of donor hearts and the risk of organ rejection.

"This therapy has the potential to ease the pressure on the waiting list while also offering patients a better alternative to a donor heart ? their own, healthy heart."

The study used the combination therapy on 15 severely ill patients, with 11 recovering. Of those that recovered, 88 per cent were free from recurrence of heart disease after five years.

LVADs connect to the left ventricle and remove oxygen rich blood from the chamber before taking it to a mechanical pump.

This is then pumped through to the aorta and sent around the body, with a course of reverse remodelling drugs encouraging the heart to return to its normal function.

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