Evidence Hub

A model for continued LVAD patient success: A 4-year readmission-free HeartMate 3 postoperative course

Stonebraker C, Lee A, Siddiqi U, Lupo S, Brownlee AR, Yang B, Combs P, Jeevanandam V

Journal of cardiac surgery, 2021

Abstract

Unplanned readmissions frequently occur following the implantation of a durable left ventricular assist device (LVAD) due to complications such as gastrointestinal bleeding and driveline infection. There is a paucity of literature describing the incidence of unplanned readmission in patients with a HeartMate 3 (HM3) Left Ventricular Assist System. In this report, we present the successful outcome of a patient with an HM3 LVAD who has experienced no unplanned readmissions in the 4-year post-implant phase. To our knowledge, this is the longest readmission-free case after HM3 implantation. A successful patient outcome was enabled by the use of the modular HM3 device, the postoperative prescription of beta-blockers and omega-3, the presence of strong social support, and open communication between the patient's caregivers and the LVAD team. Reducing the instance of unplanned readmission confers clinical benefits to the patient, as well as reducing the cost burden on the patient and the healthcare system.

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a case report, done in people. Its evidence level is 5 of 5 (Very low · case / narrative / animal / in vitro / in silico). Case reports, narrative reviews, and animal, cell or computer-model studies give the weakest evidence for human health.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free