Heartmate II Inflow Path Thrombosis: Emphasis on a Comprehensive Approach to Diagnosis

摘要

THROMBOSIS OF THE continuous-flow HeartMate II (HM II; St. Jude Medical, St. Paul, MN) left ventricular assist device (LVAD) system potentially is fatal and warrants expedient diagnosis and therapy.(1-4) Patients with pump thrombosis frequently present with heart failure symptoms, hemolytic anemia, and altered LVAD parameters, among others.' Current guidelines recommend the use of a comprehensive approach to the diagnosis of pump thrombosis, which may include the following: an analysis of the LVAD parameters, a review of the LVAD alarm history, a computed tomography (CT) angio-graphy study, a transthoracic echo-cardiography ramp study, and laboratory tests determining the presence of serum biomarkers of hemolysis such as lactate dehydrogenase (LDH).(2,5,6)