Ventricular assist devices program

Being diagnosed with advanced heart failure can keep you from activities you enjoyed before your diagnosis like dancing, traveling, gardening and golfing.

At Advocate Health Care, our goal is to have you get back to enjoying life with our ventricular assist devices (VAD). These devices take over your heart’s work and get you back to living independently again.

What is a VAD?

A VAD is a mechanical device that helps treat advanced heart failure, a condition in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet your body’s needs. The device does the work of your heart and pumps blood to your body.

It can be used short-term while you’re waiting for a heart transplant or long-term if you’re not eligible or prefer not to receive a transplant. It also can be used temporarily to support your heart as it heals after a heart attack.

A ventricular assist device includes:

• VAD pump: This mechanical piece, attached to the heart, does most of the work.
• Driveline: This tube connects the pump to a power source outside your body by traveling through the abdomen and coming out through the skin on the right side of your body. We’ll teach you how to care for this spot.
• Controller: Attached to the driveline, this mini-computer stays outside the body and controls the pump’s actions. It also tells you if the VAD has any problems.
• Power source: Some VADs are powered by a battery pack that lets you move around while others are plugged into a power source at night.

Types of VADs

Left ventricular assist device (LVAD)

A left ventricular assist device is a mechanical pump that's surgically implanted in the chests of patients with heart failure. It helps the left ventricle (lower heart chamber) pump blood into the aorta, your main artery that carries oxygen-rich blood to your body. An LVAD is the most common VAD.

Right ventricular assist device (RVAD)

Another type of VAD is a right ventricular assist device that takes blood from the right ventricle and pumps it to your pulmonary artery. There is also a BiVAD which supports both ventricles of your heart, connecting each to its respective artery.

At Advocate Heart Institute, our specialists are experts in different VAD therapies to improve your health and quality of life. These therapies include:

• Bridge to transplant therapy: If your condition is too critical to wait for a suitable heart donor and you do not respond to medical therapy, a ventricular assist device as a bridge to transplant may be an option. This short-term VAD therapy can extend your survival time long enough until a donor heart becomes available.
• Destination therapy: If you’re not a candidate for heart transplant because of other health conditions, our specialists can place a permanent VAD as an alternative therapy. Unlike a heart transplant, immunosuppressive medications aren’t needed. You’ll stay on heart failure and anticoagulation medications and have follow-up visits with your VAD team.
• Recovery therapy: If you have recent viral, post-partum or alcoholic cardiomyopathies, VAD therapy as a bridge to recovery can be effective. We also may recommend it to help you heal after a heart attack or for cardiac diseases that do not respond to medical therapy. The ventricular assist device provides temporary relief to your heart to give it time to rest and recover. When your heart is strong enough, we’ll remove the pump.

Evaluation process

Your initial visit with us may take up to two hours. During this time, we’ll:

• Review your health history
• Provide you with information about the risks, benefits and expectations of VAD therapy
• Answer your questions

During this visit, we’ll give you a complete medical assessment to determine if VAD therapy is an appropriate treatment option for you. Your exam will include:

• A consultation with our VAD team and specialists to assess your heart, brain, lungs, liver, digestive tract and kidneys
• Extensive cardiac testing
• Imaging
• Laboratory testing
• Cancer screening

Our multidisciplinary team of specialists will thoroughly review your results and determine if a ventricular assist device is the right treatment for you.

Patient referral

We strive to make the patient referral process as simple as possible. Our compassionate advanced heart failure and ventricular assist device coordinator will help guide you and your referring physician throughout the entire experience, from the initial referral to your follow-up care. Plus, our physicians and advanced practice nurses are available 24/7 to answer your and your physician’s questions.

Key indicators for VAD referral include:

• Identified as NYHA Class IV Heart Failure
• Hospitalized multiple times for heart failure
• Inability to walk one block without shortness of breath
• Intolerant to heart failure medications
• Increasing diuretic dosage
• Non-responsive to cardiac resynchronization therapy
• Lab values that indicate heart failure