First results of HeartWare left ventricular assist device implantation with tunnelling of the outflow graft through the transverse sinus

OBJECTIVES: The number of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implants for the treatment of advanced heart failure is increasing tremendously. The main therapeutic goal of this operation is to provide a bridge to transplant for patients awaiting a donor heart. In 2011, we developed a novel, minimally invasive surgical technique for LVAD implantation. To avoid possible outflow graft injuries during redo sternotomies as well as to provide a more physiological outflow towards the aortic arch, a further modification of this approach was made with outflow graft tunnelling through the transverse sinus. METHODS: More than 500 LVADs were implanted at Hannover Medical School between 2008 and 2015. From September 2012 to December 2015, we used this novel technique in 17 consecutive bridge-to-transplant patients and analysed their clinical outcomes retrospectively. Baseline characteristics were obtained for all patients, and outcome data were collected from a review of electronic medical records. Subsequently, we compared the results of a data analysis of a group of 86 patients with a minimally invasive left thoracotomy LVAD implantation with the results from patients in a control group receiving a conventional outflow graft placement between May 2009 and January 2015. RESULTS: Our data demonstrate that the outcomes and adverse events of the operated group were comparable to those of the control group. Three patients of the study group died within the first year (3 of 17, 18%); survival to 3 years was 84%. The adverse events were similar in both groups. The study group had 3 ischaemic strokes (18%) and 1 LVAD thrombosis (6%). Five patients had LVAD thrombosis (5 of 86, 6%) and 6 in the control group had ischaemic strokes (6 of 86, 7%). The average in-hospital stay was 35.4 days for the study group and 27.4 days for the control group. Three patients from the study group and 5 from the control group had cardiac transplants. The average time until cannulation and start of extracorporeal circulation was 56 min in the study group and 96 min in the control group. Re-thoracotomy was necessary in 2 patients from the control group, whereas none was necessary in the study group. CONCLUSIONS: LVAD implantation with outflow graft tunnelling through the transverse sinus is an innovative technique to prevent outflow graft damage in case of cardiac resternotomy. The results of this study show that there are no significant differences in pump speed or flow, adverse events or patient outcomes compared with the standard implant techniques. The theoretical benefits of this novel technique are the reduced risk in redo cases and the physiological direction of blood flow. Consequently, this procedure might be particularly suitable for younger patients who received an LVAD as a bridge-to-transplant option.