Ryaan El-Andari, Holger Buchholz, Jennifer Conway, Tara Pidborochynski, Darren H Freed, Steven R Meyer, Roderick G G MacArthur
Cardiac recovery following durable left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation is the ideal outcome for heart failure patients. Traditionally, the durable LVAD has required explantation. We describe our single-centre experience with LVAD decommissioning. LVAD decommissioning involved making a sternotomy or sub-xiphoid incision, ligating the outflow graft, and removing the driveline by transecting the driveline inside and outside of the chest. Six patients underwent durable LVAD decommissioning from 2017-2024. One patient had a HeartWare (Medtronic, Galway, Ireland) device, 3 patients had a HeartMate II (Abbott, Abbott Park, IL), and 2 patients had a HeartMate 3 (Abbott). All patients were successfully decommissioned and discharged without mechanical circulatory support.