Serial Evaluation of Von Willebrand Factor Performance with a Fully Magnetically Levitated Centrifugal Continuous Flow Left Ventricular Assist Device

Abstract

Incidence of non-surgical bleeding in continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD) patients is in part attributed to acquired von Willebrand's syndrome. Contemporary CF-LVADs have demonstrated significantly reduced or absent high molecular weight vWF multimers (HMWM) and functional defects in decreased ristocetin cofactor activity (RCo) to antigen (vWFAg) ratio.

We hypothesized that the HeartMate 3 fully magentically levitated (FML) LVAD with wider consistent flowpath and designed intrinsic pulsatility to reduce blood shear stress may cause less damage to vWF multimers, a critical component in platelet adhesion and aggregation.