Assessing Clinical Outcomes of Patients with Hematological Malignancies and Left-Ventricular Assisted Device (LVAD) Managed Cardiomyopathy

Researchers assessed the incidence and clinical outcomes of non-ischemic or dilated cardiomyopathies in LVAD patients with lymphomas or leukemias. The study was presented at the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

In this study, Frances Natalia Cervoni-Curet, Adan Rios, and Binoy Yohannan focused on four cases of patients (median age, 54.6, 100% men) with newly diagnosed hematological malignancies who had existing underlying LVAD-dependent cardiomyopathy. The researchers noted that one patient was excluded due to loss to follow up, while the other three were treated in the heart failure unit while also being monitored by LVAD specialists.

Of the three patients, two were diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas, one with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) and one with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL). Overall, three patients completed or had ongoing chemotherapeutic treatment at the time of the presentation. All three eventually achieved complete remission (CR) of their diseases.

“LVAD-dependent cardiomyopathy patients concurrently diagnosed with malignant hematological diseases, can be considered for treatment with antineoplastic therapies. Durable remission rates can be achieved while undergoing aggressive cardiovascular care,” the researchers concluded.