Institutional Volume of Heart Transplantation with Left Ventricular Assist Device Explantation Influences Graft Survival

Abstract

Objective-We sought to assess the impact of institutional volume of LVAD explant-OHT on post-transplant graft survival.Background-There are increasing numbers of patients undergoing orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) with left ventricular assist device (LVAD) explantation. We hypothesized that LVAD explant-OHT is a more challenging surgical procedure compared to OHT without LVAD explantation and that institutional LVAD explant-OHT procedural volume will be associated with post-transplant graft survival.