| Description |
There have been various studies done in order to study the cause of mortality among the recipients of Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVAD) that have identified numerous factors such as infection, device malfunction, right ventricle (RV) failure and patient selection as a cause of mortality. Despite the discovery of the many potential factors relating to LVAD mortality, the full range of such indicators of mortality has not been explored among LVAD patients. In this study, we analyzed the heart rate of the patients to find if it had any correlation with the patients' mortality. We hypothesized that a heart rate, post-transplant, of above 100 beats per minute will associate with increased mortality rates. The patient cohort was divided into two groups based on their heart rate: >100 beats per minute and <=100 beats per minute. The patients were studied for 52 weeks, from the day of LVAD implant to the day of explant or death. The outpatient heart rate collected during the time of study was averaged and analyzed. One hundred and thirty-eight patients were included in the study: 115 (<=100 beats per minute), 23 (>100 beats per minute). The mortality between the groups showed no significant correlation to their heart rate (p=0.26). The heart rate also showed no sign of being a risk factor for the patients' health. LVAD recipients with an elevated heart rate do not appear to have a higher mortality rate than those with lower heart rates. |
