Outcomes of biventricular mechanical support patients discharged to home to await heart transplantation.

BACKGROUND: The use of left ventricular assist devices has grown rapidly in recent years for patients with end-stage heart failure. A significant proportion of patients require both left- and right-sided support with biventricular assist devices (BiVADs) as a bridge to transplantation. Traditionally, these patients have waited in the hospital until they receive a transplant. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to characterize the clinical course of BiVAD patients discharged to home to await heart transplantation. METHODS: Between November 2009 and July 2011, 24 adult patients underwent Thoratec paracorporeal BiVAD placement at the University of California Los Angeles, all with an Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support score 1 or 2. The disposition, complications, and rehospitalizations of these subjects were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Fourteen of the 24 patients were successfully discharged to home, with a mean time of 60 ± 27 days from BiVAD implantation to discharge. Ninety-three percent (13/14) of the patients sent home went on to be transplanted. Eleven of the 14 (79%) came in from home to receive their transplant. The mean time from BiVAD implantation to transplantation was 100 ± 65 days. Of the 14 patients discharged to home, there were 18 readmissions in 8 patients. CONCLUSION: In this small single-center review, we found that complex medical patients with BiVADs can be discharged to home and can await a heart transplant from home under the close management of multidisciplinary acute care and outpatient teams.

Team-Based Care for Outpatients with Heart Failure.

Management of heart failure requires a multidisciplinary team-based approach that includes coordination of numerous team members to ensure guideline-directed optimization of medical therapy, frequent and regular assessment of volume status, frequent education, use of cardiac rehabilitation, continued assessment for the use of advanced therapies, and advance care planning. All of these are important aspects of the management of this complex condition.

Evaluation of the SIPAT instrument to assess psychosocial risk in heart transplant candidates: A retrospective single center study.

OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the reliability of the Stanford Integrated Psychosocial Assessment for Transplantation (SIPAT) in heart transplant (HT) recipients and explored its usefulness in predicting post-transplant outcomes. BACKGROUND: Pre-transplant psychosocial and behavioral risk is associated with post-transplant clinical outcomes. SIPAT is a risk assessment tool created for pre-transplant psychosocial evaluation. METHODS: Via retrospective chart review, three examiners applied the SIPAT to 51 adult HT recipients. Examiners blinded to SIPAT scores extracted data and interviewed clinicians for one-year post-transplant outcomes. Analysis included Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC), Pearson's correlation coefficient and Chi-square. RESULTS: SIPAT demonstrated strong inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.76-0.96). Compared to those with SIPAT ratings of "Excellent/Good", the "Minimally Acceptable Candidate/High Risk" group was more likely to miss clinic visits (p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: The SIPAT tool had strong IRR. Less favorable SIPAT ratings were associated with nonadherence to clinic visits. Further study is warranted to determine association of SIPAT ratings to clinical outcomes.