Results of non-elective withdrawal of continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices in selected patients

Impella 5.5 implantation in a patient with left ventricular assist device thrombosis as a bridge to recovery strategy

“…The usage of Impella 5.5 implantation is a feasible and safe concept to bridge LVAD patients to cardiac recovery and offers the possibility of LVAD re‐implantation as a bailout option. Alternative concepts for decommissioning the device are the placement of a plug or full LVAD, interventional decommissioning, surgical explantation, and left ventricular reconstruction 3–5 . We refrained from both due to the limited availability of the HVAD plug and to reduce surgical trauma and operating time as well as to avoid the use of the heart‐lung machine.…”

“…Alternative concepts for decommissioning the device are the placement of a plug or full LVAD, interventional decommissioning, surgical explantation, and left ventricular reconstruction. [3][4][5] We refrained from both due to the limited availability of the HVAD plug and to reduce surgical trauma and operating time as well as to avoid the use of the heart-lung machine. Thus, it needs to be noted that the patient remains at risk for internal device infection.…”