Ventricular assist devices, or VADs – surgically-placed mechanical pumps that can support failing hearts or buy time to transplant – are associated with high hospital costs and high rates of early death among Medicare recipients, say researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

William O'Neill, M.D., of the University of Miami will present "PROTECT II: A Prospective Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial Investigating the Use of the Impella® 2.5 versus Intraaortic Balloon Pump in Patients Undergoing Nonemergent High-Risk PCI."

Chronic liver disease patients often have low systemic vascular resistance that causes low blood pressure before liver transplant, but after receiving a new liver, they may suffer post-operative heart problems that leave the left ventricle unable to pump out an adequate amount of blood. This situation puts patients at a greater risk of organ failure and death.

Whether a patient is awaiting a heart transplant or living with chronic heart failure, cardiologists are continuously looking for new therapies that address short-term and/or long-term needs of chronically impaired cardiac patients.