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J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2008;135:203-204
© 2008 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Brief Communication

Thrombus formation in a HeartMate II left ventricular assist device

^a Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Transplant, and Vascular Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
^b Department of Radiology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.

Received for publication August 20, 2007; accepted for publication August 30, 2007.

^_* Address for reprints: Martin Strüber, MD, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Transplant and Vascular Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany. (Email: strueber.martin@mh-hannover.de).

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

Major limitations of ventricular assist devices have been the high incidence of thromboembolic events, the requirement for systemic anticoagulation, and the mechanical stability and duration of the device.¹ The successful use of axial flow pumps for left ventricular (LV) assistance has been limited by thromboembolic events² and pump thrombosis.³ Therefore, imaging of the devices is crucial.⁴ The HeartMate II axial flow pump (Thoratec, Pleasanton, Calif) has shown a low incidence of thromboembolic events and proper long-term mechanical function. Pump thrombosis has not been reported. We report a case of thrombus formation 4 months after HeartMate II implantation.

Clinical Summary

A 40-year-old male patient with severe coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction was transferred to our hospital. An echocardiogram revealed an LV ejection fraction less than 10% and apical LV aneurysm carrying a large thrombus. Because there was cardiac decompensation and no reasonable option for revascularization, the decision was made to perform HeartMate . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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