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Percutaneous removal of large tricuspid valve vegetations is a safe and effective alternative for patients with TVE who carry high-surgical risk. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Background Temporary use of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) prior to heart transplantation has been associated with formation of antibodies directed against human leukocyte antigens (HLA), often referred to as sensitization. Identifying specific factors that might predispose patients to form HLA-specific antibodies after LVAD implantation may facilitate the development of strategies to prevent high degree of sensitization. We investigated whether prior sensitization or LVAD type affected the degree of post-implantation sensitization. Methods We reviewed the records of consecutive HeartMate (HM) I and HM II LVAD patients. Panel reactive antibody (PRA) was assessed, either with antiglobulin cytotoxicity or flow cytometry, prior to LVAD implantation and biweekly thereafter. Sensitization was defined as PRA >10% and high degree sensitizization was defined as a PRA >90%. Results Sixty-four patients underwent implantation with a HM I LVAD and 11 patients with a HM II LVAD as a bridge to transplant. Among the HM I patients, 10 (16%) were sensitized before LVAD implantation (HM I-SENSITIZED), averaging a PRA of 50±35 %, and 54 (84%) were not (HM I-NON-SENSITIZED). Nine of 10 HM I-SENSITIZED patients (90%) became highly sensitized (PRA>90%) compared to only 9/54 HM I-NON-SENSITIZED patients (16.7%) (p<0.001). Despite similar duration of mechanical support, the PRA remained elevated (>90%) in all but 1 of the highly sensitized pts in HM I-SENSITIZED (8/9, 88.9%), compared to only 5/9 (55.6%) of the highly sensitized pts in HM I-NON-SENSITIZED. In the rest of the HM I-SENSITIZED highly sensitized pts PRA declined from a peak value of 93±4% to 55±15% (p= 0.01). Among the HM II patients, 1 (9 %) was sensitized before LVAD implantation (PRA 40%) and 10 (91%) were not sensitized. The sensitized HM II patient did not become highly sensitized but did moderately increase the PRA to 80%. No other HM II patient became sensitized after implantation. Thus, fewer HM II patients became sensitized when compared to the HM I patients [1/11 (9%) vs 29/64 (45%); p=0.04]. Conclusion Pre-sensitized patients are at higher risk for becoming and remaining highly HLA-allosensitized after LVAD implantation. Furthermore, HeartMate II LVAD appears to cause less sensitization than HeartMate I LVAD.

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