Review article: Ventricular assist devices in the emergency department.

Partyka, Christopher; Taylor, Ben

Ventricular assist devices ( VADs) have become an indispensable tool in the management of end-stage cardiac failure, both as a means of bridging to cardiac transplantation and as destination therapy for long-term quality of life improvement. Although the technology continues to advance and these devices continue to be refined, they are still associated with significant complications. This article reviews the basics of VAD function and physiology, as well as the myriad to complications that follow their implantation. This review aims to provide a systematic approach to the troubleshooting, diagnosis and management of both VAD-associated complications and the resuscitation of the decompensated VAD patient presenting to the ED.

HEART ventricle diseases; ARRHYTHMIA; CARDIAC arrest; ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY; ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHY; EMERGENCY medical services; RIGHT heart ventricle; HEART failure; HEMORRHAGE; HYPOTENSION; INFECTION; MEDICAL needs assessment; PATIENTS; COMPLICATIONS of prosthesis; STROKE; THROMBOSIS; PRODUCT design; MEDICAL equipment reliability; HEART assist devices

Emergency Medicine Australasia, 2014, Vol 26, Issue 2, p104

1742-6731

Academic Journal

10.1111/1742-6723.12171