Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Journal of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Research 2008-5117 14 3 2022 09 10 Preoperative atrial fibrillation predicts worse outcomes after LVAD implantation 166 171 10.34172/jcvtr.2022.29 EN Moritz Benjamin Immohr https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1051-8105 Yukiharu Sugimura https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0217-7363 Esma Yilmaz Hug Aubin https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9289-8927 Udo Boeken https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8128-9659 Payam Akhyari https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6452-8678 Artur Lichtenberg https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8580-6369 Hannan Dalyanoglu Journal Article 10.34172/jcvtr.2022.29 2021 12 20 2022 08 18 Introduction: Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation is a common therapy for end-stage heart failure. Heart failure patients often present with atrial fibrillation (AF). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of preoperative AF as well as vascular complications on outcome in LVAD patients. Methods: Between 01/2010 and 12/2017, 168 patients (141 male) with end-stage heart failure underwent LVAD implantation at a single center. Patient outcome was retrospectively studied by using the Kaplan-Meier method for analyzing crude survival as well as Cox regression for analyzing risk factors. Results: Sixty-two patients suffered from preoperative atrial fibrillation at LVAD implantation. Mean age was 56.8±11.9 years (range: 22–79) and 141 (84%) were male. Postoperative vascular or visceral surgical management due to malperfusion was needed in 27 patients (16.1%) and did not correlate with postoperative mortality (P=0.121, HR=1.587, CI=0.885–2.845). Patients with preoperative AF had a worse outcome in the Kaplan-Meier analysis (P=0.069). In contrast, cox regression showed that postoperative AF could not to be considered to be an independent predictor of mortality in this study group. Conclusion: Our data suggest that preoperative AF may be a potential predictor of mortality and impaired long-term outcome in LVAD patients. In contrast, preoperative ECLS and vascular or visceral surgery after LVAD implantation did not represent limiting factors with regard to mortality after LVAD implantation.