In this contemporary, real-world, medium-sized cohort, HeartMate 3 therapy provided durable long-term support across a broad spectrum of advanced heart failure patients, with outcomes consistent with those reported in large multicentre registries.
The study included 100 consecutive adults who received a HeartMate 3 LVAD at Lausanne University Hospital, a predominantly male cohort of mean age 58 with a minority implanted as destination therapy.
Ischaemic heart disease was the most common cause of heart failure, and most patients were in INTERMACS profiles 3-4 at implantation.
During a median follow-up of 1.5 years, 27 patients died on LVAD support, giving a mortality incidence rate of 13.5 per 100 patient-years.
About half of the patients underwent heart transplantation during follow-up.
Five-year survival on LVAD support was 64%.
LVAD-related complications were frequent: infection and bleeding affected about half of patients, right ventricular failure affected 39%, and ischaemic stroke 12%.
Survival on LVAD support did not differ significantly between destination therapy and bridge-to-transplant patients in a pre-specified exploratory analysis.
This study looked back at the first 100 patients who received a HeartMate 3 heart pump (a left ventricular assist device, or LVAD) at Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland between 2015 and 2026. Most patients were men in their late fifties with heart failure from coronary artery disease. Many were not at the very sickest stage of heart failure when the device was implanted. Over a median follow-up of about 1.5 years, 27 patients died while on the pump and 51 went on to receive a heart transplant. Five-year survival on the pump was 64%, with patients no longer counted once they received a transplant or had the device removed. Complications were common: about half of patients had bleeding or infection, 39% had right heart failure, and 12% had an ischaemic stroke. Survival did not clearly differ between patients who received the pump as a long-term therapy and those who used it as a bridge to transplant, although the small numbers make this comparison imprecise. This research suggests that a medium-sized centre can achieve long-term outcomes with the HeartMate 3 similar to those reported in large multicentre registries. The study is from a single centre and is observational, so it cannot show that the device is better than other treatments, but it adds real-world data on how these patients fare.
Nowacka A, Hullin R, Yerly P, Abdurashidova T, Marcucci C, Rancati V, et al.. (2026). Contemporary outcomes after 100 consecutive HeartMate 3 LVAD implantations: a single-centre cohort study from a Swiss tertiary centre.. Swiss medical weekly. https://doi.org/10.57187/5384