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Psychosocial and Palliative Aspects of VAD Care

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A Guide to Mechanical Circulatory Support

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Abstract

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have become the standard of care for end-stage heart failure refractory to medical therapy (Peura et al., Circulation (New York, NY) 126:2648–67, 2012). Studies have shown that LVADs improve survival as well as quality of life (Mehra et al., N Engl J Med 380:1618–27, 2019). LVAD technology has been advancing very rapidly and clinical outcomes continue to improve. However, the rate of complications with LVAD therapy remains high (Molina et al., Ann Thorac Surg 111:778–92, 2021), therefore, intense psychosocial evaluation prior to implant and support throughout therapy is warranted. This chapter will review the pre- and post-operative psychosocial considerations as well as discuss the end-of-life concerns that exist with device therapy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Martha Abshire Saylor

  2. Department of Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Shunichi Nakagawa

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  1. Martha Abshire Saylor
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Correspondence to Martha Abshire Saylor .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, NJ, USA

    Scott Stewart

  2. UAB Hospital, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Peggy Blood

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Abshire Saylor, M., Nakagawa, S. (2022). Psychosocial and Palliative Aspects of VAD Care. In: Stewart, S., Blood, P. (eds) A Guide to Mechanical Circulatory Support. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05713-7_18

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