First successful percutaneous treatment of a totally occluded HeartWare outflow graft: Case report and literature review

Özet

As the number of implanted left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) used increases, the frequency of chronic complications encountered alsoincreases. The pause of blood flow in the outflow graft is a rare, but fatal, complication. The aim of this article was to present the case of a patientin whom HeartWare outflow graft occlusion was removed by balloon angioplasty and to examine the treatment modalities of HeartWare outflowgraft occlusions that have been percutaneously performed to date. The literature was searched for percutaneous interventions on outflow graftsof the left ventricular assist devices. The results of six patients who underwent interventions on outflow grafts were analyzed. Three of six patientswith HeartWare outflow graft stenosis were treated with covered stents, while the remaining three were treated with bare metal stents.All procedures were applied successfully. Percutaneous interventions can be performed with appropriate equipment in patients with HeartWareoutflow graft stenosis or total occlusion.