Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients in the Emergency Department with Left Ventricular Assist Devices

Introduction: Left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) are increasingly common among patients with heart failure. The unique physiologic characteristics of patients with LVADs present a challenge to emergency clinicians making treatment and disposition decisions. Despite the increasing prevalence of LVADs, literature describing emergency department (ED) visits among this population is sparse. We aimed to describe clinical characteristics and outcomes among patients with LVADs seen in two quaternary-care EDs in a five-year period. Secondarily, we sought to evaluate mortality rates and ED return rates for bridge to transplant (BTT) and destination therapy (DT) patients.Methods:We conducted a retrospective cohort study of adult patients known to have an LVAD who were evaluated in two quaternary-care EDs from 2013 –2017. Data were collected from the electronic health record and summarized with descriptive statistics. We assessed patient outcomes...
Source: Western Journal of Emergency Medicine - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Source Type: research