Long-term discontinuation of antithrombotic therapy in patients with HeartMate II continuous-flow left ventricular assist device support

Recurrent bleeding events are a common complication of left ventricular assist devices leading to significant morbidity. Clinicians may be reluctant to discontinue all antithrombotic therapies in this setting because of the risk of thrombotic events. To evaluate the safety of this strategy, we conducted a retrospective review of patients within our institution’s left ventricular assist device program from February 2010 to July 2018 who had all antithrombotic therapies discontinued in response to recurrent bleeding events requiring hospitalization. Thrombotic and bleeding outcomes after discontinuation of therapy were assessed and compared. Seven patients out of 87 (8%) were identified and included in this analysis. One patient experienced pump thrombosis in the setting of driveline infection with an overall rate of thrombotic events of 0.08 per-patient-year. Sixteen gastrointestinal bleeding events occurred after discontinuation of antithrombotic therapy (1.35 per-patient-year) compared with 37 prior to discontinuation (4.28 per-patient-year) resulting in a significant reduction (reduction rate = 0.32; 95% confidence interval = [0.17, 0.58]; p <.001). Thrombotic complications were rare among patients with HeartMate II left ventricular assist device support who suffered recurrent bleeding events and in whom antithrombotic therapy was, therefore, discontinued. Gastrointestinal bleeding was significantly reduced in this group; however, angioectasia-related gastrointestinal bleedings remained problematic.