ventricular assist device

noun

: a device that is implanted in the chest or upper abdomen to assist the left or right ventricle in pumping blood in a damaged or weakened heart

called also VAD

Examples of ventricular assist device in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

It's called a left ventricular assist device, or LVAD. — Adrianna Rodriguez, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025

Due to her condition, Ava is connected to a ventricular assist device, called a Berlin Heart, which keeps her alive by helping her heart pump blood throughout her body. — Vanessa Etienne, People.com, 26 Feb. 2025

However, LVADs can cause the right ventricle to falter, requiring intensive drug treatments and sometimes the implantation of a right ventricular assist device. — IEEE Spectrum, 22 Aug. 2019

Melody is currently hooked up to the Berlin Heart, a ventricular assist device (VAD) designed to support the hearts of children with severe heart failure, particularly as a bridge to transplantation. — Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1970, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for ventricular assist device

• advice
• allspice
• concise
• entice
• excise
• fordyce
• precise
• suffice
• dice
• feis
• gneiss
• grice

Medical Definition

ventricular assist device

noun

ventricular as·​sist device -ə-ˈsist- 

: a device that is implanted in the chest or upper abdomen to assist the left or right ventricle in pumping blood in a damaged or weakened heart

Researchers found that pumps known as ventricular assist devices, which are implanted without removing the patient's heart, were superior to drug therapy among the sickest patients.

—Lawrence K. Altman, The New York Times

called also VAD