Percutaneous treatment of left ventricular assist device outflow graft obstruction

Owing to the growing population with end stage heart failure, the use of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have become more widely accepted. Although survival has improved with newer generation LVADs, multiple complications including pump failure due to outflow graft obstruction have become more clinically relevant. Patients with this complication will present with heart failure symptoms due to inadequate unloading of the left ventricle by LVAD. This rare complication often requires open surgical repair in an already high-risk patient population. Alternative means to relieve the obstruction via percutaneous intervention has been described in rare cases. We present two unique cases of LVAD outflow graft obstruction which were percutaneously treated successfully. This article illustrates a potential treatment strategy for outflow graft obstruction with stenting as an alternative to open-heart surgery.