Noninvasive assessment of left ventricular assist devices with cardiovascular computed tomography and impact on management.
BACKGROUND
Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) provide a bridge to recovery or heart transplantation but require serial assessment. Echocardiographic approaches may be limited by device artifact and acoustic window. Cardiovascular computed tomography (CCT) may provide improved non-invasive imaging of LVADs. We evaluated the diagnostic findings and clinical impact of CCT for non-invasive assessment of patients with LVADs.


METHODS
CCT examinations performed between 2005 and 2008 in patients with LVADs were identified. Acquisitions were completed on the identical 64-detector-row scanner with intravenous contrast administration. Electrocardiographic gating was used in patients with pulsatile devices, and peripheral pulse gating was used in patients with continuous-flow devices. Comparison was made between CCT results and 30-day outcomes, including echocardiographic and intraoperative findings.


RESULTS
We reviewed 32 CCT examinations from 28 patients. Indications included evaluation of low cardiac output symptoms, assessment of cannula position, low flow reading on the LVAD, and surgical planning. CCT identified critical findings in 6 patients, including thrombosis and inlet cannula malposition, all confirmed intraoperatively. CCT missed 1 case of intra-LVAD thrombus. Using intraoperative findings as the gold standard, CCT's sensitivity was 85% and specificity was 100%. Echocardiographic LVAD evaluation did not correlate with findings on CCT (kappa = -0.29, 95% confidence interval, -0.73 to 0.13).


CONCLUSIONS
This preliminary observational cohort study indicates that non-invasive imaging using CCT of LVADs is feasible and accurate. CCT warrants consideration in the initial evaluation of symptomatic patients with LVADs.
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA. raman.1@osu.edu
Subha V
SV
Raman
Anurag
A
Sahu
Ali Z
AZ
Merchant
Louis B
LB
Louis
Michael S
MS
Firstenberg
Benjamin
B
Sun
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000792:Angiography; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*