Premium
Destination Therapy: One‐Year Outcomes in Patients With a Body Mass Index Greater Than 30
Author(s) -
Coyle Laura A.,
Ising Mickey S.,
Gallagher Colleen,
Bhat Geetha,
Kurien Sudha,
Sobieski Michael A.,
Slaughter Mark S.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
artificial organs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.684
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1525-1594
pISSN - 0160-564X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1525-1594.2009.00771.x
Subject(s) - contraindication , medicine , body mass index , destination therapy , heart failure , creatinine , obesity , heart transplantation , incidence (geometry) , surgery , diabetes mellitus , transplantation , overweight , ventricular assist device , cardiology , endocrinology , physics , alternative medicine , pathology , optics
Abstract Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are slowly gaining acceptance as the treatment of choice in appropriately selected patients with end‐stage heart failure who are not transplant candidates. Obesity is a well‐known risk factor for increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and frequently can be the reason some patients are turned down for heart transplantation. Because of this experience in transplant patients, many centers have also been reluctant to offer these patients an LVAD for destination therapy (DT). Subsequently, the 1‐year outcomes of obese patients receiving LVADs for DT at our center were reviewed. Fifty‐eight consecutive patients (83% men) were implanted with HeartMate XVE ( n = 22) or HeartMate II ( n = 36) LVAD. Patients were divided into normal (body mass index [BMI] ≤ 30 kg/m 2 , n = 38) and obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m 2 , n = 20) groups according to their BMI. Preoperatively, there were statistically significant differences ( P < 0.05) between normal and obese groups in age (65.9 years vs. 54.7 years), weight (72.9 kg vs. 107.5 kg), BMI (24.1 kg/m 2 vs. 35.2 kg/m 2 ), and incidence of diabetes (37% vs. 60%). At 1‐year follow‐up, there were no statistically significant differences ( P > 0.5) between normal and obese groups: creatinine levels (1.4 vs. 1.5), New York Heart Association classification (1.2 vs. 1.6), and survival (63% vs. 65%). Our initial results demonstrate that morbidly obese patients with end‐stage heart failure with a contraindication for transplant may successfully undergo implantation of an LVAD for DT.