Common Complications and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Patients with Left Ventricular Assist Devices: A Narrative Review

Heart failure remains a major global burden regarding patients’ morbidity and mortality and health system organization, logistics, and costs. Despite continual advances in pharmacological and resynchronization device therapy, it is currently well accepted that heart transplantation and mechanical ci...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jerica Zaloznik Djordjevic, Timur Özkan, Eva Göncz, Jus Ksela, Martin Möckel, Matej Strnad
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-11-01
Series:Medicina
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/59/11/1981
Description
Summary:Heart failure remains a major global burden regarding patients’ morbidity and mortality and health system organization, logistics, and costs. Despite continual advances in pharmacological and resynchronization device therapy, it is currently well accepted that heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support represent a cornerstone in the management of advanced forms of this disease, with the latter becoming an increasingly accepted treatment modality due to the ongoing shortage of available donor hearts in an ever-increasing pool of patients. Mechanical circulatory support strategies have seen tremendous advances in recent years, especially in terms of pump technology improvements, indication for use, surgical techniques for device implantation, exchange and explantation, and postoperative patient management, but not in the field of treatment of critically ill patients and those undergoing cardiac arrest. This contemporary review aims to summarize the collected knowledge of this topic with an emphasis on complications in patients with left ventricular assist devices, their treatment, and establishing a clear-cut algorithm and the latest recommendations regarding out-of-hospital or emergency department management of cardiac arrest in this patient population.
ISSN:1010-660X
1648-9144