De Bakker CC, Veenis JF, Manintveld OC, Constantinescu AA, Caliskan K, den Uil CA, Brugts JJ. Monitoring pulmonary pressures during long-term continuous-flow left ventricular assist device and fixed pulmonary hypertension: redefining alleged pathophysiological mechanisms?
ESC Heart Fail 2020;
7:702-704. [PMID:
32022460 PMCID:
PMC7160469 DOI:
10.1002/ehf2.12594]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2019] [Revised: 11/26/2019] [Accepted: 11/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Pulmonary hypertension (PH) type II (classified by the World Health Organization) is a common complication in chronic left-sided heart failure. In advanced heart failure therapy, fixed PH is an absolute contraindication for heart transplantation after which a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is the only remaining option. With remote monitoring, we can now continuously evaluate the pulmonary artery pressures during long-term LV unloading by the LVAD. In this case, we demonstrate that fixed PH can be reversed with LVAD implantation, whereby previous thoughts of this concept should be redefined in the era of assist devices.
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