Quality of life and mental health of patients with severe heart failure with or without technical support for the left cardiac ventricle - a cross-sectional study

Objectives: Chronic heart failure is associated with reduced quality of life (QoL) and poor prognosis. Support via a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is an alternative to optimised medical management for patients with advanced heart failure. This study evaluated health-related QoL with both therapy options. Methods: In this consecutive cross-sectional study, patients with LVAD support (n = 50) and patients with optimised medical management (n = 50) were interviewed comprehensively about various domains of QoL, emotional stress, perceived self-efficacy, social support, life satisfaction, and communication. Results: LVADpatients had a better overall QoL (KCCQ, clinical summary: MW: 67.4 vs. 52.9). Patients with medical management reported increased emotional stress stemming from depressed mood (HADS-D, MW: 7.1 vs. MW: 6.0). Depressed mood proved to be the most significant negative predictor for health-related QoL as well as for emotional well-being. Conclusions: Although they had a worse clinical situation preoperatively, LVAD patients had a significantly better QoL in both physical dimensions and functional competencies as well as significantly less psychological stress through depressed mood and anxiety.