Pulsatile Left Ventricular Assistance in High-Risk Percutaneous Coronary Interventions: Short-Term Outcomes

Objectives: 

To document the real-world experience with the use of pneumatic pulsatile mechanical circulatory support (MCS) with the PulseCath iVAC2L during high-risk percutaneous coronary interventions (HR-PCIs). Background: The use of MCS in HR-PCIs may reduce the rate of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) at 90 days. The PulseCath iVAC2L is a short-term pulsatile transaortic left ventricular (LV) assist device that has been in use since 2014. The iVAC2L Registry tracks its safety and efficacy in a variety of hospitals worldwide. 

Methods: 

The iVAC2L Registry is a multicenter, observational registry that aggregates clinical data from patients treated with the iVAC2L worldwide. A total of 293 consecutive cases were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Estimated rates of in-hospital clinical endpoints were described. All-cause mortality was used as the primary endpoint and other outcomes of interest were used as secondary endpoints. The rates obtained were reported and contextualized. 

Results: 

The in-hospital rate of all-cause mortality was 1.0%, MACE was 3.1%. Severe hypotension occurred in 8.9% of patients. Major bleeding and major vascular complications occurred in 1.0% and 2.1%, respectively. Acute myocardial infarction occurred in 0.7% of patients. Cerebrovascular events occurred in 1.4% of patients. Cardiac arrest occurred in 1.7% of patients. A statistically significant improvement in blood pressure was observed with iVAC2L activation. 

Conclusions: 

The results of the present study suggest that the iVAC2L is capable of improving hemodynamics with a low rate of adverse events. However, confirmatory studies are needed to validate these findings.