We report a 65-year-old man with fulminant myocarditis undergoing percutaneous cardiopulmonary support (PCPS) and left ventricular assist device (LVAD). PCPS and intra-aortic balloon pumping was initially introduced for cardiogenic shock in the emergency department. We switched to LVAD because cardiac function did not recover despite PCPS for 5 days. Cardiac function then gradually improved, an...

Ventricular arrhythmia from aortic cusp thrombosis and coronary embolization is a rare complication of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. In this report, we present a case of acute left main and left anterior descending artery occlusion from embolic aortic cusp thrombi after LVAD implant. The patient presented with chest pain and incessant ventricular tachycardia post-LVAD impl...

A 74-year-old man with a left-ventricular assist device (LVAD) as destination therapy for end-stage ischemic cardiomyopathy presented with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Other symptoms included chronic early satiety, intermittent nausea, and non-specific abdominal discomfort since LVAD implantation 3 years ago. An actively bleeding duodenal arteriovenous malformation was successfully tr...

A 62-year-old woman with a history of lung cancer, prior surgical aortic valve replacement with a 23-mm Hancock (Medtronic, Inc, Minneapolis, MN) porcine valve, and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy supported with a HeartMate II destination therapy left ventricular assist device (LVAD; Thoratec Corporation, Pleasanton, CA) presented with hemolytic anemia (hemoglobin, 6.8 g/dL; lactate dehydrogenase, ...

BACKGROUND The prevalence of cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) in gradient echo T2*-weighted brain MRI has a positive correlation with hemorrhagic stroke incidence. However, the prevalence of CMBs in patients with left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) has not been evaluated. We evaluated the prevalence of CMBs and the relationship with hemorrhagic stroke incidence in patients with LVADs. METHOD A...

BACKGROUND Galectin-3 is a marker of myocardial inflammation and fibrosis shown to correlate with morbidity and mortality in heart failure (HF). We examined the utility of galectin-3 as a marker of the severity of HF, the response of galectin-3 levels to ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation or heart transplantation (HTx), and its use as a prognostic indicator. METHODS Plasma galectin...

OBJECTIVES This qualitative study describes the experiences of spousal caregivers of a patient with end-stage heart failure (HF) from pre-LVAD to post-LVAD-DT implantation. BACKGROUND LVAD-DTs are implanted as permanent devices for end-stage HF patients with the goal of improving the length and quality of life. LVADs create new demands for both patients and caregivers. METHODS In-depth, sem...

BACKGROUND Right ventricular (RV) failure after the insertion of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) historically results in poor outcomes. Patients requiring temporary RV support after LVAD insertion are a heterogeneous group of patients consisting of those in cardiogenic shock after myocardial infarction, to those with chronic decompensated heart failure. For patients requiring biventricu...

BACKGROUND  The continuous flow (CF) left ventricular assist device (LVAD) has replaced the pulsatile flow (PF) LVAD because of its advantages of better patient survival and higher quality of life. However, "late-onset right ventricular failure (RVF)" after CF LVAD implantation has emerged as an increasing concern, but little is known about the mechanism. METHODS AND RESULTS  We retrospective...

AIMS Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-Is) prevent the rise in myocardial angiotensin II that occurs after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation, but do not fully normalize cardiac function. Here, we determined the effect of LVAD implantation, with or without ACE-Is, on cardiac renin, aldosterone, and norepinephrine, since these hormones, like angiotensin II, are likely...