A multidisciplinary team-based process improves outpatient anticoagulation quality with continuous-flow left-ventricular assist devices

摘要

While continuous-flow left-ventricular assist devices (CF-LVAD) prolong survival in patients with heart failure who are refractory to medical therapy [1], contemporary devices expose patients to a superposed risk of both thromboembolic and bleeding events [2,3]. Precise anticoagulation management is therefore essential in mitigating these potentially catastrophic complications. Historically at the Miami Transplant Institute (MTI), anticoagulation was managed by specialized personnel, including LVAD coordinators, heart failure cardiologists, and cardiothoracic surgeons.