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Late sequelae of left ventricular assist device infection presenting after heart transplant
Author(s) -
Dulanto Chiang A.,
Narsa.,
Ruiz M.E.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
transplant infectious disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.69
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1399-3062
pISSN - 1398-2273
DOI - 10.1111/tid.12535
Subject(s) - medicine , ventricular assist device , heart transplantation , heart failure , population , transplantation , cardiology , surgery , intensive care medicine , environmental health
The long‐term use of left ventricular assist devices ( LVAD s) is becoming more common among the end‐stage heart failure population. At the time of heart transplantation, most of the LVAD is removed, but some of its components might be retained. Retained LVAD prosthetic material can lead to serious infection post heart transplant. We report 4 such cases. Our goal is to highlight the importance of complete prosthetic material removal at the time of cardiac transplant to prevent late‐onset infection, especially in patients with preceding infection, but also in patients without evidence of LVAD infection prior to orthotopic heart transplantation.