Safety of reduced anti-thrombotic strategy in patients with HeartMate 3 left ventricular assist device

There are limited safety data on reduced anti-thrombotic therapy (RT) in patients with HeartMate 3 (HM3) left ventricular assist device (LVAD). We conducted a single-center, retrospective study of patients with HM3 managed with RT from November 2014 through January 2020. We analyzed baseline characteristics, RT indications, and bleeding and thrombotic complications. We found that 50 of 161 patients with HM3 (31.1%) received RT starting at a median time of 90.5 days after LVAD implantation. Patients on RT were older and more likely to have ischemic heart failure than patients on standard anti-thrombotic therapy (ST). The most common indication for RT was gastrointestinal bleeding (29 patients [58.0%]). At 1-year follow-up, 5.0% of patients on RT developed a thrombotic event. Switching patients from ST to RT reduced the occurrence of major bleeding from 1.252 to 0.324 events per patient-year (p = 0.006). In our population of patients with HM3 LVAD, RT reduces bleeding without increasing the incidence of thrombosis. Our retrospective study suggests that an upfront RT strategy in patients with HM3 may be beneficial and should be prospectively studied.