Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology position paper on the management of left ventricular assist device ‐supported patients for the non‐left ventricular assist device specialist healthcare provider: Part 2: at the emergency department

AbstractThe improvement in left ventricular assist device (LVAD) technology and scarcity of donor hearts have increased dramatically the population of the LVAD-supported patients and the probability of those patients to present to the emergency department with expected and non-expected device-related and patient –device interaction complications. The ageing of the LVAD-supported patients, mainly those supported with the ‘destination therapy’ indication, increases the risk for those patients to suffer from other co-morbidities common in the older population. In this second part of the trilogy on the ma nagement of LVAD-supported patients for the non-LVAD specialist healthcare provider, definitions and structured approach to the LVAD-supported patient presenting to the emergency department with bleeding, neurological event, pump thrombosis, chest pain, syncope, and other events are presented. The v ery challenging issue of declaring death in an LVAD-supported patient, as the circulation is artificially preserved by the device despite no other signs of life, is also discussed in detail.
Source: ESC Heart Failure - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: ESC and HFA Paper Source Type: research