Obesity: A Risk Factor for Thrombotic Complications in LVAD Recipients

Introduction: Strong association between obesity and adverse cardiovascular outcomes have been previously reported. Chronic inflammation and venous stasis appear to be major effector mechanisms leading to increased risk of thrombosis, bleeding and infection in obese patients. With obesity as a relative contraindication to heart transplantation and the growing obesity epidemic, increasing number of obese heart failure patients are being evaluated for Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVAD). The influence of varying body mass index (BMI) and inflammation on the risk of adverse outcomes is not yet understood.

Source: Journal of Cardiac Failure - July 23, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Haroon Yousaf, Andrew Keibel, Christiane Abouzeid, Andrew Yoon, Michael Fong, Luanda Grazette Source Type: research