Evaluation of the Hemocompatibility of the Direct Oral Anticoagulant Apixaban in Left Ventricular Assist Devices: The DOAC LVAD Study.

Background: Patients receiving left ventricular assist device (LVAD) support require long-term anticoagulation to reduce the risk of thromboembolic complications. Apixaban is a direct oral anticoagulant that has become first-line therapy; however, its safety in LVAD recipients has not been well described.

Objectives: This study sought to investigate whether, in patients with a fully magnetically levitated LVAD, treatment with apixaban would be feasible and comparable with respect to safety and freedom from the primary composite outcome of death or major hemocompatibility-related adverse events (HRAEs) (stroke, device thrombosis, major bleeding, aortic root thrombus, and arterial non-central nervous system thromboembolism) as compared with treatment with warfarin.

Machine Learning Multicenter Risk Model to Predict Right Ventricular Failure After Mechanical Circulatory Support: The STOP-RVF Score.

Importance: The existing models predicting right ventricular failure (RVF) after durable left ventricular assist device (LVAD) support might be limited, partly due to lack of external validation, marginal predictive power, and absence of intraoperative characteristics.

Objective: To derive and validate a risk model to predict RVF after LVAD implantation.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This was a hybrid prospective-retrospective multicenter cohort study conducted from April 2008 to July 2019 of patients with advanced heart failure (HF) requiring continuous-flow LVAD.

Design and Rationale for the Direct Oral Anticoagulant Apixaban in Left Ventricular Assist Devices (DOAC LVAD) Study.

Implantable left ventricular assist device (LVAD) therapy is used to improve quality of life, alleviate symptoms and extend survival rates in patients with advanced heart failure. Patients with LVADs require chronic anticoagulation to reduce the risk of thromboembolic complications, and they commonly experience bleeding events. Apixaban is a direct oral anticoagulant that has become first-line therapy for patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation and venous thromboembolism; however, its safety in patients with LVADs has not been well characterized.

Transapical Cannulation With a Dual Lumen Cannula for Mechanical Circulatory Support in Cardiogenic Shock.

Temporary mechanical circulatory support can be delivered through a variety of techniques, including percutaneous left ventricular assist devices, surgically implanted rotary pumps, and veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. However, limitations include the effects of high afterload, intravascular hemolysis, patient vascular anatomy, surgical morbidity, and limited patient mobility which can hinder patient recovery. We describe a series of patients managed with transapical left ventricular mechanical circulatory support using a dual lumen cannula for the management of cardiogenic shock as a bridge to recovery or definitive decision.

Predictors of Renal Failure in Patients Treated With the Total Artificial Heart.

Background: The incidence of hemodialysis (HD)-dependent renal failure after total artificial heart (TAH) implantation is high. We sought to determine the preoperative predictors of HD after TAH implantation.

Methods And Results: We studied 87 patients after TAH implantation at our institution between April 2006 and March 2017.

Exercise Capacity in Patients with the Total Artificial Heart.

There is a dearth of information regarding the functional abilities of patients with the total artificial heart (TAH). Increased utilization of the TAH and patient discharge to home with the portable unit necessitates a shift in focus to quality of life, which includes quantifying and ultimately optimizing functional capacity. To date, only single-patient case studies have described the exercise response of the TAH patient.

Surgical Treatment of Heart Failure.

More than 5 million Americans suffer from heart failure and more than 250,000 die annually. Cardiac surgery, as applied to advanced heart failure, has evolved significantly in the past 50 years. Current therapeutic interventions are focused on the appropriate assessment of myocardial dysfunction as a means to select the right patient for the appropriate procedure using state-of-the-art myocardial viability testing and metabolic testing to determine candidacy for conventional interventions, mechanical devices, or transplant.

Infections in Patients with a Total Artificial Heart Are Common but Rarely Fatal.

Patients who received a total artificial heart (TAH) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2011 were identified from the VCU Mechanical Circulatory Support Clinical Database. Retrospective data extraction from the medical records was performed from the time of TAH implantation until heart transplantation or death. Infections were classified as confirmed or suspected.

Impact of INTERMACS Profile on Clinical Outcomes for Patients Supported With the Total Artificial Heart.

Background: Insufficient data delineate outcomes for Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support (INTERMACS) profile 1 patients with the total artificial heart (TAH).

Methods: We studied 66 consecutive patients implanted with the TAH at our institution from 2006 through 2012 and compared outcome by INTERMACS profile. INTERMACS profiles were adjudicated retrospectively by a reviewer blinded to clinical outcomes.

Prospective Evaluation of Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator Lead Function During and After Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation.

Objectives: This study investigated the mechanism of lead malfunction by monitoring lead parameters throughout left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation.

Background: Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) lead malfunction can occur after LVAD implantation.

Methods: ICD lead data were prospectively evaluated during and after LVAD implantation and at 12 pre-specified intraoperative time points.

The total artificial heart.

The total artificial heart (TAH) is a form of mechanical circulatory support in which the patient's native ventricles and valves are explanted and replaced by a pneumatically powered artificial heart. Currently, the TAH is approved for use in end-stage biventricular heart failure as a bridge to heart transplantation. However, with an increasing global burden of cardiovascular disease and congestive heart failure, the number of patients with end-stage heart failure awaiting heart transplantation now far exceeds the number of available hearts.

Pulmonary Hypertension After Heart Transplantation in Patients Bridged with the Total Artificial Heart.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) among heart transplant recipients is associated with an increased risk of mortality. Pulmonary hemodynamics improves after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation; however, the impact of PH before total artificial heart (TAH) implantation on posttransplant hemodynamics and survival is unknown. This is a single center retrospective study aimed to evaluate the impact of TAH implantation on posttransplant hemodynamics and mortality in two groups stratified according to severity of PH: high (≥3 Woods units [WU]) and low (<3 WU) baseline pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR).

Surveillance Endomyocardial Biopsy in the Modern Era Produces Low Diagnostic Yield for Cardiac Allograft Rejection.

Background: The changing epidemiology of cardiac allograft rejection has prompted many to question the yield of surveillance endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) in heart transplantation (HT) patients. We sought to determine the yield of EMB in the modern era.

Methods: We evaluated 2597 EMBs in 182 consecutive HT patients who survived to their first EMB.

Mechanical circulatory support devices in the ICU.

The medical community has used implantable mechanical circulatory support devices at increasing rates for patients dying from heart failure and cardiogenic shock. Newer-generation devices offer a more durable and compact option when compared with bulky early-generation devices. This article is a succinct introduction and overview of the hemodynamic principles and complications after device implantation for ICU clinicians.

Implantation of the syncardia total artificial heart.

With advances in technology, the use of mechanical circulatory support devices for end stage heart failure has rapidly increased. The vast majority of such patients are generally well served by left ventricular assist devices (LVADs). However, a subset of patients with late stage biventricular failure or other significant anatomic lesions are not adequately treated by isolated left ventricular mechanical support.

Clinical indications for implantation of the total artificial heart.

The total artificial heart (TAH) is effective for bridging patients with biventricular heart failure (BiVHF) to transplantation. It consists of two pneumatic pumps with four mechanical valves that replace nearly the entire myocardium, thus also making it effective therapy for heart failure from alternative (ALT) anatomical and pathophysiological causes that preclude left ventricular assist device (LVAD). This report reviews the clinical indications and outcomes for TAH implantation at our institution from 2006 to 2012.

Octreotide for left ventricular assist device-related gastrointestinal hemorrhage: can we stop the bleeding?

Left ventricular support devices (LVADs) are associated with a propensity toward gastrointestinal bleeding. A postulated mechanism is related to gastrointestinal arteriovenous malformations secondary to nonpulsatile flow. We describe a case of LVAD-related, gastrointestinal bleeding successfully treated with a combination of subcutaneous and intramuscular depot formulations of octreotide.