New Pumps Make Waiting Better for Transplant Patients

Reported August 30, 2007

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- End-stage heart failure patients who must wait for a heart transplant fight the battle against time each day that goes by. But hope may be on the horizon. A new study reveals the use of a continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (LVAD) can provide effective support in a much more convenient way.

The new continuous-flow device is a drastic improvement from its predecessor, the pulsatile volume-displacement device.

"It's smaller, it's quite, it can go into women and adolescent populations that were previously excluded from this form of support," Leslie Miller, M.D., the study's co-author and Director of the Division of Cardiology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis told Ivanhoe.

The durability of the continuous-flow LVAD will also benefit patients. "There is just one moving part, so the durability is great. Half of the previous pump had to be completely changed out at 18 months, and we think this pump may go 5 to 10 years," Dr. Miller said.
 

Researchers collected data from 133 end-stage heart failure patients who had the continuous-flow LVAD implanted while they waited for a heart transplant. After data was analyzed, researchers concluded that the device was capable of providing effective support for a period of at least six months, and gave patients improved functional status along with heightened quality of life. Dr. Miller said he believes this is another huge achievement to add to the list of advances in mechanical support.

"There were three milestones in mechanical support. When we moved from devices outside the body to totally internalized devices, when we moved from a pneumatic power source to the electrical form, and now, when we've moved from these previous pulsatile pumps to continuous flow," Dr. Miller said.

Dr. Miller said he believes it won't be long before more and more heart failure patients will be turning to this technology. "I think when people see this is a very low complication, high success type of opportunity, we'll see more of these implanted," he said.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe Interview with Leslie Miller, M.D.; New England Journal of Medicine, 2007; 357:885-896