title: Continuous flow left ventricular assist device technology has influenced wait times and affected donor allocation in cardiac transplantation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Bridge to transplantation patients with continuous flow left ventricular assist devices (cfLVADs) are assigned United Network for Organ Sharing status 1A or 1B priority while awaiting orthotopic heart transplantation. We investigated the influence of cfLVAD on the waitlist times and organ allocation.
  
  
  METHODS
  The United Network for Organ Sharing database was examined from 2005 to 2012 for patients with cfLVAD and pulsatile flow LVAD (pLVAD). These 2 cohorts were compared with patients who did not receive LVAD.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 16,476 total orthotopic heart transplantations, 3270 (19.8%) were performed on patients with an LVAD as a bridge to transplantation. The cfLVAD group had the longest total waitlist time (259.6 days) compared with the pLVAD (134.6 days) and non-LVAD (121.7 days) groups (P < .001). The cfLVAD group spent more time in status 1A (44.7 days) than did the pLVAD (32.1 days) and non-LVAD (16.4 days) cohorts (P < .001). The median waitlist survival was better for the cfLVAD group (1234.0 days) than in the pLVAD (441.0 days) and non-LVAD (471.0 days) groups (P < .001). The cfLVAD recipients were older, had a greater body mass index, and more often had diabetes than did pLVAD and non-LVAD patients. The cfLVAD cohort received hearts from older, more often male donors, with a greater body mass index. Post-transplant survival was not significantly different among the 3 groups on Kaplan-Meier analysis (P = .12).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite being older, less favorable recipients, the cfLVAD patients spent more time in status 1A and had greater waitlist survival. This might allow cfLVAD patients to receive preferred donor hearts, which might allow for better post-transplant survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pa.
authors.forename: Sharven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taghavi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pa.
authors.forename: Senthil N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Jayarajan
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa.
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Komaroff
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiac Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn. Electronic address: abeel.mangi@yale.edu.
authors.forename: Abeel A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Mangi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D046148:Donor Selection; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left; D014850:Waiting Lists / Q000401:mortality; D055815:Young Adult