284: Improved quality of life and functional improvement in patients supported with the HeartMate II, an axial flow left ventricular assist device

Purpose: The axial flow devices provide equal hemodynamic support as the older pulsatile devices, but may have improved quality of life due to their lack of noise and smaller size. Methods and Materials: We evaluated the quality of life and functional improvements in 10 patients who were supported by the HeartMate II (Thoratec, Pleasanton CA) at our center. All patients were NYHA class IV end stage heart failure, 8 patients had idiopathic cardiomyopathy and 2 patients had ischemic cardiomyopathy. The quality of life was measured using three various questionnaires the SF-12 Health Survey, Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire and the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire. Functional improvement was measured by a 6 minute walk. Results were obtained at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after LVAD implantation. Results: The group included 8 men and 2 women, average age 31 years (range 14-70 years). The average duration of support was 572 days (range 365-749 days). Eight of the patients improved from NYHA Class IV to I and two of the patients improved from class IV to II within 6 months. All patients were discharged from the hospital and the average duration of stay was 37.7 days (range 14-106 days). One patient had a drive line infection and one patient had a pump pocket infection. Aside from these two complications there were no significant complications in this group. All patients had an improved quality of life between the 1 and 6 month. On average the patients achieved 450 meters at 3 months and continued to increase in functional capacity at 6 months. Conclusions: This data indicates improvement in both quality of life and functional improvement in patients who have greater than 1 year support with the HeartMate II axial flow device.