Echocardiography and Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Devices

Echocardiography and Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Devices: Evidence and Limitations.

Echocardiography is the most used imaging modality in the growing population of patients with advanced heart failure undergoing continuous-flow, durable mechanical circulatory support. However, no guidelines for the use of echocardiography in this population exist, evidence for core applications is limited and conflicting, and newer centrifugal-flow devices have been subject to minimal study. A...

Gastrointestinal bleeding with continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices.

Continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD) insertion is a life-saving procedure that is being increasingly used in patients with advanced heart failure. However, patients with CF-LVADs are at an increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB). Bleeding can occur anywhere in the GI tract with lesions being more prevalent in the upper GI tract than in the lower GI tract. The patho...

Continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices induce left ventricular reverse remodeling.

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Left Ventricular Assist Devices.

Effects of continuous-flow versus pulsatile-flow left ventricular assist devices on myocardial unloading and remodeling.

BACKGROUND Continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) are increasingly used for patients with end-stage heart failure (HF). We analyzed the effects of ventricular decompression by continuous-flow versus pulsatile-flow LVADs on myocardial structure and function in this population. METHODS AND RESULTS Sixty-one patients who underwent LVAD implantation as bridge-to-transplant were an...