By Regina Schaffer
Recent adverse events soon after receiving a left ventricular assist device, such as major organ dysfunction, have the largest effect on scores measuring health-related quality of life, according to a patient registry analysis.
In an analysis of more than 12,000 patients with end-stage HF who received an LVAD, researchers also found that patient characteristics and device implant strategies had small effects on health-related quality of life. Read more in Healio.
— It doesn’t help, for sure, but it doesn’t seem to hurt greatly either
SEATTLE — Perhaps the biggest downside of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) for people with end-stage heart failure is the substantial risk of strokes they bring. But a new study indicates that patients can still proceed to successful heart transplant after an LVAD-related stroke.
Among patients suffering strokes after receiving LVADs as bridge-to-transplant therapy at one major referral center, and then proceeding to transplant, medium- and long-term outcomes were just as good as for stroke-free LVAD recipients, reported Aaron Shoskes, DO, of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Read more on MedPage Today.