Objective: To determine the influence of the preoperative placement of a left ventricular assist device on survival after heart transplantation.
Design: Prospective cohort study.
Setting: Organ sharing database with patient level data on heart transplants in the United States.
Participants: 2786 adults aged 18 or older in status 1A or 1B (highest priority for heart transplantation with either some form of ventricular assist device, intravenous inotrope, or life expectancy of less than seven days), based on the United Network for Organ Sharing Registry, 1996-2004.
Main outcome measure: Survival after heart transplantation in patients who did and did not receive a left ventricular assist device.
Results: The left ventricular assist device was not associated with decreased survival, even after the data were stratified by propensity score (the odds of being a treated patient). Inspection of the strata showed no difference in survival between patients who received the device and those who did not. The hazard ratios in strata 1 to 5 were 0.69, 1.37, 1.55, 0.75, and 1.19, respectively, and none was statistically significant.
Conclusion: Overall, survival after heart transplantation in patients who received a left ventricular assist device before transplantation was comparable to those who did not receive the device.