Large animal models to test mechanical circulatory support devices

Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices are widely used to treat patients with heart failure. Animal studies have been essential to the development of MCS devices. A number of factors must be considered to ensure good results from these experiments. In this review, we discuss current debates on what might be the ideal surgical approach to evaluating MCS devices in large animals, the hemodynamic and laboratory differences between large animals and humans, heart failure models using large animals, and study designs for developing new long-term MCS devices.