Noteworthy Progress in LVAD Therapy: The HeartMate 3

Noteworthy Progress in Heartmate 3™

On August 28, 2018, the FDA approved the HeartMate 3™ left ventricular assist device (LVAD) as a destination therapy for patients with advanced heart failure who are not eligible for transplant, as a life-long implant. The HeartMate 3™ LVAD was approved as bridge to transplant and as a bridge to myocardial recovery in a preceding year. FDA approval was supported by the landmark MOMENTUM 3 Trial — the largest randomized trial in the history of mechanical circulatory support — which included >1,000 patients. New York-Presbyterian/Columbia surgeons and cardiologists were at the forefront of this innovation: They were among the first to offer patients access to HeartMate 3™ nationwide, enrolled the largest number of patients (>6 percent of the entire enrollment), and commemorated entry of the 100th patient into the trial.

The device is available to patients at both NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell.

The HeartMate 3™, a fully magnetically levitated centrifugal continuous-flow pump, markedly reduced complications over its predecessors, including:

• lowest published stroke rate (3-fold reduction ≥6 month post implant)
• eliminated pump thrombosis, one of the major complications of device therapy

Overall, LVAD therapy has now reached unprecedented success, as evidenced by:

• survival of 83 percent at two years, which is now comparable to heart transplantation
• increased exercise capacity — doubled six-minute walk distance (from 154 to 308 meters)
• improved quality of life based on the patient responses to Kansas City Cardiomyopathy and European Quality of Life Questionnaires