Cessation of anti-coagulation for bleeding and subsequent thrombosis events with a fully magnetically levitated centrifugal left ventricular assist device

Anti-coagulation therapy for patients supported by a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) has not been adequately evaluated in relevance to newer pumps, such as the fully magnetically levitated HeartMate 3 (HM3) pump. Current anti-coagulation guidelines target a goal international normalized ratio (INR) of 2.0 to 3.0, with vitamin K antagonists to mitigate the risk of pump thrombosis and ischemic stroke, but are based on historical trials with older devices. Long-term outcomes associated with newer devices, such as the centrifugal-flow HM3, have demonstrated a marked decrease in the incidence of pump thrombosis compared with mechanical bearing axial-flow pumps under the construct of similar anti-coagulation algorithms in an effort to control between groups of clinical trials.
Source: The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation - Category: Transplant Surgery Authors: Tags: CASE ANECDOTES, COMMENTS AND OPINIONS Source Type: research