Valley’s Center for Comprehensive Heart Failure Care provides a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) Therapy program, offering an advanced treatment option for patients suffering from congestive heart failure.
What is a Left Ventricular Assist Device?
A left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a mechanical heart pump implanted for a subset of patients diagnosed with heart failure. An LVAD pumps blood from your left ventricle to the rest of your body when your heart is not able to.
Heart failure surgeons at The Valley Hospital are currently implanting the Abbott HeartMate 3TM LVAD.
Who is a Candidate for a Left Ventricular Assist Device?
An LVAD is a common treatment option for patients with congestive heart failure. It is also an option for patients with advanced heart failure with depressed left ventricular function in the absence of right-sided heart failure
There are two pathways a patient with a long-term Left Ventricular Assist Device will take, some will go on to a heart transplant, and others will live with the device for the rest of their life.
A left ventricular assist device isn’t an appropriate treatment option for everyone with heart failure. You may not be a candidate for an LVAD if you have:
- Blood clotting disorders
- Irreversible kidney failure
- Severe liver disease
- Severe lung disease
- Infections that antibiotics can’t treat
What are the Benefits of a Left Ventricular Assist Device?
For people with end-stage heart failure, those who have LVAD devices tend to live longer than those who receive medical therapy alone.
By increasing blood flow to your body, a left ventricular assist device:
- Improves the function of your kidneys, liver, brain, and other organs
- Reduces symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, and swelling
- Improves your strength and ability to take part in activities you couldn’t do before, such as cardiac rehab
- Allows you to go home from the hospital
Why Choose Valley for Heart Failure Care?
- A team dedicated to you: At Valley, you’ll get team-based care from cardiologists, electrophysiologists, heart surgeons, interventional cardiologists, heart failure nurses, and others. And our alliance with Cleveland Clinic’s nationally ranked heart program allows us to consult with the nation’s very best for the most complex cases.
- Clinical trials and treatments you can’t find everywhere: Valley is involved in promising heart failure clinical trials and research. We’re looking at new, more effective ways to diagnose and treat conditions that cause heart failure. This means you may have access to life-changing therapies not yet widely available.
- Expertise in diagnosing heart failure: Many patients come to us after a long diagnostic journey still without answers. Our team’s expertise combined with the latest cardiac imaging technology and procedures allow us to make the right diagnosis quickly.
- Access to the latest heart procedures: Heart surgery and interventional cardiology procedures may treat certain symptoms or conditions that cause heart failure. We use innovative, minimally invasive methods to repair or replace heart valves, bypass blocked arteries and fix heart defects.
