Bridging Biventricular Failure to Successful Heart Transplants: HVAD BiVAD versus TAH

Purpose LImited mechanical support options exist for patients in biventricular heart failure. Post-transplant outcomes in those bridged with BiVAD HVADs and Total Artificial Heart (TAH) have not been well described. We sought to examine post heart transplant outcomes of this cohort in a national registry. Methods 258 patients were bridged to transplant with the TAH and 54 patients with HVAD BiVAD were identified in the UNOS registry (2004-2018). Exclusions included age Results 312 patients underwent successful HT with either TAH or HVAD BiVAD. HVAD BiVAD recipients were younger (47.1 ± 16.3 vs 48.1 ± 14.0, p=0.003) and more likely to be female (33.3% vs 13.6%, p Conclusion Patients with biventricular failure requiring mechanical support represent a high mortality cohort. Our study demonstrates that pts bridged with HVAD BiVAD have superior outcomes to those bridged with the TAH, which appears driven by early mortality with the TAH cohort. Further study is warranted to refine patient selection as both choices present unique challenges.