LVAD: A Therapeutic Analysis

In the UK, reports show that heart failure has been affecting up to 2% of the population, over 900,000 people are living with heart failure, with 63,000 new cases being diagnosed each year (BHF, 2015). It costs the NHS £625 million per year, as a result of the high portion of emergency admissions, readmission and long length of inpatient stay (NHS Improvement, 2010). DH (2000) confirmed that Heart failure accounts for all cardiac admissions and the readmission rate can be as high as 50% within 3 months; also, it further estimated 50% readmission might be preventable. Unfortunately, Heart Failure can’t be cured, but early

Although these interventions may improve immediate survival in the short term, only coronary artery revascularization and cardiac transplantation have been shown to improve long-term survival.” (DeMarco & Chatterjee, 1993)

Kay, Neal, and Gregory T. Bittner. "Should Implantable Cardioverter-defibrillators and Permanent Pacemakers in Patients with Terminal Illn

It is important to follow instructions from your health care provider about caring for your ventricular assist device (VAD) at home (destination therapy). You will continue to work with a health care provider who specializes in VADs (VAD coordinator) and a heart specialist (cardiologist).

Heart failure (HF) is defined as a multifaceted clinical syndrome that can result from any structural or functional cardiac disorder that impairs the ability of the ventricle to fill with or eject blood. In HF, the heart may not provide tissues with adequate blood for metabolic needs, and cardiac-related elevation of pulmonary or systemic venous pressures may result in organ congestion1. In the United States, HF is increasing in incidence with about 5.1 million people suffering from HF and half of people who develop HF die within 5years 2. Over 75% of existing and new cases occurred in individuals over 65 years of age, < 1% in individuals below 60 years, nearly 10% in those over 80 years of age. HF costs the

One of those patients is Louanne, who has been a competitive ballroom dancer for more than a decade. At 82, she is still quick on her feet and hasn’t let two knee replacements or a broken hip hold her back. Despite her passion, her heart couldn’t keep up because of her atrial fibrillation. When the symptoms could no longer be ignored, Louanne’s physicians at the Heart Institute recommended a cardiac ablation. Virginia Mason cardiothoracic surgeons were the first in the Pacific Northwest region to offer patients this new minimally invasive surgery. Her recovery was swift and Louanne is back on her feet again and dancing thanks to her physicians and donors like you!

Heart failure is a debilitating syndrome that has driven up health care costs (O’Donovan, 2014). Therefore, making heart failure one of the most expensive chronic diseases. Heart failure is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in the U.S. It is the only cardiovascular disorder that is increasing in both incidence and prevalence (Park, Wortmann, & Edmondson, 2011). The current treatment for heart failure is known to improve survival, but the quality of life may be compromised. Routine implementation of clinical guidelines may lead to a standardization of care, which could affect the patient-centered care that is needed in today’s healthcare (Sanders, Harrison, & Checkland, 2010). It is imperative that each patient’s care plan be

“HF [heart failure] is a common, expensive, severe, and progressive disease state in which routinely adjusted treatments are required to lower morbidity and mortality, and reduce overall health care costs” (Dendale & Coauthors, 2012, p. 1). Due to the severity of HF, readmission rates of HF patients are an area of great concern because HF is the leading cause of hospital admissions and readmission in patients older than 65 years (Stamp, Machado, Allen, Correspondence, 2014). Not only is it the leading cause of hospital admissions and readmissions, it is also one of the most costly diagnoses in the United States (Stamp et al., 2014). Heart failure has become an increasing issue among a variety of patients especially those that have other underlying health conditions and especially those who are older. Heart failure has many troublesome symptoms that may reduce a patient’s quality of life. “Frequently experienced symptoms by HF patients such as shortness of breath and extreme fatigue significantly restrict an individual’s ability to perform self-care and daily activities…” (Stamp. et al., 2014). Readmission rates for HF patients is becoming a growing concern especially due to the “baby boomer” population getting older, which in return will increase the number of first time admissions and readmissions for patients with heart failure (Betihavas, 2013). According to Cykert (2012), “The ACA penalizes hospitals with a high rate

Project: “Administrative” Versus Adjudicated Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction. I was directly involved in data collection, patient recruitment and manuscript preparation. I had the opportunity to work with investigators and research coordinators to learn about all aspects of clinical research, including human subjects, safety, data analysis, research ethics and regulatory requirements. Our abstract was published in Cardiac Failure Journal August 2014 and had presented at the 18th Annual Scientific meeting of the Heart Failure Society of America, November 2014.

It was concluded at this point that closure of the LAA with the Watchman device was non-inferior to warfarin therapy in regard to prevention of stroke, SE, and cardiovascular death, but the device group did sustain an increased number of procedure-related safety events, mainly pericardial tamponade and procedure-related

Stan Larkin, a patient who suffered from cardiomyopathy, survived 17 months without a heart, thanks to the SynCardia Freedom Portable Driver, a replacement bag, which kept him alive until finally arrived transplantation.

However, 1st year survival in LVAD patient is higher than 85%. Unfortunately, 69.8% of the LVAD patients get readmitted to hospital in first 6 months after the device implantation (Topkara et al., 2010). LVAD patients live with this device as the last option unless they get new hearts (Rowland et al., 2012). If the device malfunctions or stop their lives can end immediately (Rowland et al., 2012). Therefore, the focus has to be on their follow up cares after they get discharged from the hospital (Banbury et al., 2003).

Approximately 20 million people around the world have a diagnosis of heart failure (HF) (Hobbs, Escutia, Harrison, Moore, & Sarpong, 2016). HF is the most frequent reason that cardiac patients are rehospitalized. As outlined in the Affordable Care Act,

A qualitative study of the psychological experience of patients during and after mechanical cardiac support by Hallas, Banner, and Wray (2009), is a study that evaluated the psychological adjustment and quality of life of patients being treated for end stage heart failure with ventricular support assist device (VAD) in situ compared with patients who underwent heart transplantation or had the VAD removed. This critique will appraise the author’s presentation of the elements of the research study to include: the stated problem, purpose, research question, conceptual framework, literature review, measures of concept, results reporting, sample and research design.

The concept of non-invasive cardiac pacing has been present for about 200 years. In 1791 Galvani reported that an electrical current applied across the heart of a dead frog resulted in myocardial contraction [1]. However, non-invasive pacing was not made practical until Dr. Paul Zoll's work in the early 1950s. In 1952 Zoll reported the successful delivery of current from a generator through subcutaneous needle electrodes, which resulted in fixed rate pacing of two patients with ventricular standstill.3 He later reported the development and successful use of the first true noninvasive pacemaker and monitor. This device used a pair of 3-centimeter diameter metal electrodes secured to the chest wall with a leather belt and delivered 2-20 millisecond,