Development of a hybrid decision support model for optimal ventricular assist device weaning.

Background: Despite the small but promising body of evidence for cardiac recovery in patients that have received ventricular assist device (VAD) support, the criteria for identifying and selecting candidates who might be weaned from a VAD have not been established.

Methods: A clinical decision support system was developed based on a Bayesian Belief Network that combined expert knowledge with multivariate statistical analysis. Expert knowledge was derived from interviews of 11 members of the Artificial Heart Program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Relative contributions of age and atherosclerosis to vascular stiffness.

To determine the relative contributions of aging and atherosclerosis to vascular stiffness, we studied aortic stiffness, plaque, and elastin in 8-, 16-, 25-, and 34-week-old male ApoE-KO and C57BL/6J control mice (N = 48). Stiffness increased gradually in both strains up to 25 weeks (p < 0.05), and dramatically between 25 and 34 weeks in ApoE-KO (p < 0.