title: Reversible decline in pulmonary function during left ventricular assist device therapy.
abstract: Cardiac replacement therapy, consisting of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implant surgery and heart transplantation, has considerably reduced the mortality and morbidity of patients with stage D heart failure. However, its impact on pulmonary function remains unclear. We retrospectively evaluated 22 consecutive patients (16 men; 42 ± 13 years old) who had undergone pulmonary function tests during the heart failure, LVAD, and heart transplantation periods. The LVAD therapy lasted an average of 871 ± 267 days. The % vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in 1 s decreased significantly after LVAD implantation and returned to baseline levels after heart transplantation. Correlation analysis indicated that a shorter duration of LVAD support was associated with a more significant improvement in % vital capacity in heart transplantation recipients, compared to the pre-LVAD period and the LVAD period. In conclusion, we provide evidence that a decrease in pulmonary function occurs during LVAD support but it may be reversible. Limited LVAD duration may be a key for the recovery of pulmonary dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan. te.imamu@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Teruhiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imamura
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama-shi, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan. kinugawa-tky@umin.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kinugawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nawata
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ono
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Heart failure; Heart transplantation; Tidal volume