Baseline Characteristics & Predictors of Cardiac Recovery in Patients with Left Ventricle Assist Device Implantation.

Aim of this study was to investigate the differences in baseline characteristics of patients with >10% improvement in their ejection fraction (EF) 1 year after LVAD implantation and compare their outcomes. A subgroup of patients (n=89) from MOMENTUM study who underwent LVAD implantation from 2 sites were included. Cardiac recovery was defined as >10% improvement in EF at 1 year, which were considered as responders (R) and others as non-responders (NR). Comparison between two groups was made using Wilcoxon test for continuous, non-normal variables, and Fisher's or Chi-square test for categorical variables using R (version 4.2.1). The mean age was 63.3 years, 81% were males, and 79% were white (Table 1). Noteworthy trends included lower incidence of diabetes, myocardial infarction, coronary bypass, and lower baseline NT-Pro BNP in R group. Average EF of R group was 38% and NR group was 18.3% at 1 year. Female sex was positively associated with EF recovery on both univariate and multivariate analysis (odds ratio (OR), 9.32; confidence interval (CI), 1.79 to 60.7; P=0.01), whereas the presence of coronary artery disease (CAD) was inversely associated (OR, 0.1; CI, 0.01 to 0.58; P=0.023). We found 60% patients in R group had NYHA Class I symptoms at 1 year (P=0.01) and had fewer readmissions due to any cause compared to NR group (P =0.004). The 6-minute walk distance at 1 year was 331 m in R group as opposed to 299 m in NR group (P= 0.604). (Table 1) Our study suggests females have higher odds of cardiac recovery, whereas presence of CAD decreases its odds. Patients with >10 % EF improvement have better functional status with less NYHA symptoms and reduced rehospitalizations. Analysis of the entire MOMENTUM study data would be beneficial to further elicit significant trends and confirm our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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