Echocardiography and Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Devices: Evidence and Limitations

Abstract

Echocardiography is the most used imaging modality in the growing population of patients with advanced heart failure undergoing continuous-flow, durable mechanical circulatory support. However, no guidelines for the use of echocardiography in this population exist, evidence for core applications is limited and conflicting, and newer centrifugal-flow devices have been subject to minimal study. As a first step toward addressing these deficits, this review summarizes the evidence and expert opinion for the use of echocardiography in pre-operative planning and perioperative management, prediction of post-operative right ventricular failure, the use of echocardiographic surrogates for invasive hemodynamic measurements, and the performance of speed ramp studies for the diagnosis of thrombosis and optimization of device settings.

Keywords: echocardiography; heart failure; left ventricular assist devices; mechanical circulatory support.