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Diagnosis and Management of LVAD Thrombosis

  • Heart Failure (W Tang, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Opinion statement

Ventricular assist device (VAD) thrombosis is one of the most devastating complications for patients on mechanical assist devices, and has been occurring more frequently during the last 3 years for unknown reasons. The diagnosis of VAD thrombosis is challenging and requires knowledge of the various clinical presentations and high vigilance. The current review summarizes various aspects of VAD thrombosis, including possible mechanisms for the formation of VAD thrombus and its clinical presentation, and presents a suggested algorithm in diagnosing this entity, with therapeutic options. High awareness and knowledge of the variable clinical presentations of VAD thrombosis are essential in order to allow early diagnosis, which may decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with this complication.

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References and Recommended Reading

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Conflict of Interest

EY Birati and JE Rame have both received research grants from Heartware Corporation and Thoratec Corporation.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cardiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Edo Y. Birati MD & J. Eduardo Rame MD

  2. Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 2 East Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, 3400 Civic Center Blvd., Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Edo Y. Birati MD & J. Eduardo Rame MD

Authors
  1. Edo Y. Birati MD
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  2. J. Eduardo Rame MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Eduardo Rame MD.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Heart Failure

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Birati, E.Y., Rame, J.E. Diagnosis and Management of LVAD Thrombosis. Curr Treat Options Cardio Med 17, 2 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11936-014-0361-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11936-014-0361-y

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