Role of Echocardiography in the Management of Patients with Advanced (Stage D) Heart Failure Related to Nonischemic Cardiomyopathy

Abstract

Echocardiography (ECHO) is indispensable for evaluation of patients with terminal chronic heart failure (HF) who require transplantation or mechanical circulatory support by a left- or biventricular assist device (LVAD or BiVAD, respectively). In LVAD candidates, ECHO represents the first-line investigation necessary for a timely discovery of heart-related risk factors for potentially life-threatening post-operative adverse events, including identification of patients who necessitate a biventricular support. ECHO is also required for intra-operative guiding of VAD implantation and finding of the most appropriate setting of the device for an optimal ventricular unloading, postoperative surveillance of the VAD support, and monitoring of the RV changes in LVAD recipients. Thanks to the ECHO, which has decisively contributed to the proof that prolonged VAD support can facilitate cardiac reverse remodeling and functional improvement to levels which allow successful weaning of carefully selected patients from LVAD or BiVAD, the previous opinion that chronic non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (NICMP) is irreversible could be refuted. In patients with normalized and stable right heart catheter-derived hemodynamic parameters obtained at short-term interruptions of VAD support, ECHO has proved able to predict post-weaning long-term freedom from HF recurrence in patients with pre-implant terminal chronic NICMP. The purpose of this article is to offer an actualized theoretical and practical support for clinicians engaged in this particularly challenging and topical issue especially due to the new practical aspects which have emerged in conjunction with the growing use of long-term ventricular assist devices as bridge-to-transplantation or as destination therapy, as well as the increasing evidence that, in some patients, such VAD can become a bridge-to-recovery, allowing the removal of the device after a longer support time.