NYMC Faculty Publications
Infections in Patients With a Total Artificial Heart Are Common but Rarely Fatal
DOI
10.1097/MAT.0000000000000562
Journal Title
ASAIO Journal (American Society for Artificial Internal Organs : 1992)
First Page
736
Last Page
739
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
November 2017
Department
Medicine
Abstract
Patients who received a total artificial heart (TAH) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2011 were identified from the VCU Mechanical Circulatory Support Clinical Database. Retrospective data extraction from the medical records was performed from the time of TAH implantation until heart transplantation or death. Infections were classified as confirmed or suspected. Twenty-seven men and 5 women, mean age 49.5 years (range 24 to 68 years) received a TAH. The mean duration of TAH support was 225 days (range 1 to 1334 days). Of the 32 patients, 4 (12.5%) died and 28 (87.5 %) underwent heart transplantation. Causes of death were pneumonia (n=1), TAH malfunction (n=1), refractory cardiogenic shock (n=1), and respiratory failure (n=1). Seventy documented and 13 suspected infections developed in 25 patients (78%). The most common sources of infection were urinary tract (n=26), respiratory tract (n=18), and bloodstream (n=11). There were 5 pump infections and 2 drive line infections. The number of infections per patient ranged from 0 to 10. Sixteen different pathogens were identified; the most common were: Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=15), coagulase-negative Staphylococci (n=10), Enterococcus species (n=9) and Enterobacter species (n=8). Mortality directly attributable to infection was infrequent.
Recommended Citation
Hidalgo, L. F., Shah, K., Cooke, R., Tang, D., Kasirajan, V., Cooper, H., & Aronow, W. (2017). Infections in Patients With a Total Artificial Heart Are Common but Rarely Fatal. ASAIO Journal (American Society for Artificial Internal Organs : 1992), 63 (6), 736-739. https://doi.org/10.1097/MAT.0000000000000562