Days alive and out of hospital after left ventricular assist device implantation

Aims: Implantation of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) as a bridge to transplant or as destination therapy is increasing. The selection of suitable patients and outcome assessment belong to the key challenges. Mortality has traditionally been a focus of research in this field, but literature on quality of life is very limited. This study aimed to identify perioperative factors influencing patients' life as measured by days alive and out of hospital (DAOH) in the first year after LVAD implantation. Methods and results: This retrospective single-centre cohort study screened 227 patients who underwent LVAD implantation at the University Hospital Duesseldorf, Germany, between 2010 and 2020. First, the influence of 10 prespecified variables on DAOH was investigated by univariate analysis. Second, multivariate quantile regression was conducted including all factors with significant influence on DAOH in the univariate model. Additionally, the impact of all variables on 1 year mortality was investigated using Kaplan–Meier curves to oppose DAOH and mortality. In total, 221 patients were included into analysis. As pre-operative factors, chronic kidney disease (CKD), pre-operative mechanical circulatory support (pMCS), and Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support (INTERMACS) stadium < 3 were associated with lower DAOH at 1 year [CKD: 280 (155–322) vs. 230 (0–219), P = 0.0286; pMCS: 294 (155–325) vs. 243 (0–293), P = 0.0004; INTERMACS 1: 218 (0–293) vs. INTERMACS 2: 264 (6–320) vs. INTERMACS 3: 299 (228–325) vs. INTERMACS 4: 313 (247–332), P ≤ 0.0001]. Intra-operative additional implantation of a right ventricular assist device (RVAD) was also associated with lower DAOH [RVAD: 290 (160–325) vs. 174 (0–277), P ≤ 0.0001]. As post-operative values that were associated with lower DAOH, dialysis and tracheotomy could be identified [dialysis: 300 (252–326) vs. 186 (0–300), P ≤ 0.0001; tracheotomy: 292 (139–325) vs. 168 (0–269), P ≤ 0.0001]. Multivariate analysis revealed that all of these factors besides pMCS were independently associated with DAOH. According to Kaplan–Meier analysis, only post-operative dialysis was significantly associated with increased mortality at 1 year (survival: no dialysis 89.4% vs. dialysis 70.1%, hazard ratio: 0.56, 95% confidence interval: 0.33–0.94; P = 0.031). Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that there can be a clear discrepancy between hard endpoints such as mortality and more patient-centred outcomes reflecting life impact. DAOH may relevantly contribute to a more comprehensive selection process and outcome assessment in LVAD patients.