Efficacy and limitation of a left ventricular assist system in a patient with dilated cardiomyopathy accompanying multi-organ dysfunction.

A left ventricular assist system (LVAS, Toyobo CO., LTD., Japan) was used to provide life support for 190 days in a 44-year-old male patient with end-stage dilated cardiomyopathy. Before LVAS implantation, heart failure and cardiogenic shock with multi-organ dysfunction progressed despite the use of intra-aortic balloon pumping (18 days), mechanical ventilatory support (15 days), continuous veno-venous hemofiltration (two days) and intravenous administration of catecholamines. Before LVAS implantation, the patient had marked hepatic and renal dysfunction (total bilirubin 6.1, BUN 73 and serum creatinine 3.1 mg/dl). Those functions returned to normal (total bilirubin 1.2, BUN 11 and serum creatinine 0.6 mg/dl) one month after implantation. He was complicated by multiple cerebral embolisms occurring on the 9th, 57th and 175th postoperative days and died 190 days after surgery. Autopsy showed thrombi attaching to the diaphragm of the blood pump and multiple embolisms in the kidney and the spleen. By scanning electron microscopic examination, initial thrombi with attached erythrocytes were seen on the diaphragm surface without intimal lining formation. In conclusion, LVAS support can be useful for patients with end-stage heart disease complicated by multi-organ dysfunction. However, the LVAS may cause thromboembolic complications over the prolonged use.