Mechanical ventricular assistance in heart failure: pathology of the cardiac apex removed during device implantation.
BACKGROUND
Ventricular assistance device (VAD) implantation provides large ventricular core biopsies available for pathological assessment. We present here the pathological data from 60 apex removed during a 7-year-period in a single institution.


RESULTS
The most frequent specific lesions were ischemic myocardial damage. Nonspecific pathological features were quite as frequently observed and correspond either to dilated cardiomyopathies, chronic ischemic cardiopathies, or miscellaneous conditions. Myocarditis represented 10 out of the 60 cases. The pathological data changed the clinical diagnosis in four cases: 1 case of juvenile hemochromatosis featuring as myocarditis and three cases of myocarditis featuring as dilated cardiomyopathies.


CONCLUSIONS
Apex pathological analysis provides definite diagnosis and contributes to determine the cases which the cardiac disease have a possibility to recover under VAD.
Cazes
Aurélie
A
Department of Pathology, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France. aurelie.cazes@egp.aphp.fr
Duong Van Huyen
Jean-Paul
JP
Fornes
Paul
P
Amrein
Catherine
C
Guillemain
Romain
R
Grinda
Jean-Michel
JM
Bruneval
Patrick
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002312:Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices; D006432:Hemochromatosis / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D009205:Myocarditis / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D019919:Prosthesis Implantation; D055815:Young Adult