A stable patient with a left ventricular assist device was admitted to the outpatient clinic with ventricular fibrillation

Özet

A left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is used as a bridge therapy for transplantation in patients with advanced heart failure. Moreover, it can be used as a destination therapy for patients who are ineligible for heart transplantation (elevated pulmonary vascular resistance, cachexia, and renal insufficiency) or in the absence of appropriate donors. The use of such devices has become more popular recently owing to the increasing number of patients with medical treatment-refractory end-stage heart failure. Ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) are one of the most critical complications that develop in patients with LVAD. VAs are common in the first 30 days of LVAD implantation (1, 2). Although it has been reported that arrhythmias are generally well tolerated by patients with LVAD, their effects on mortality are still controversial. However, a general consensus states that VAs are the predictors of mortality in patients with LVAD (1-3).