The following is a summary of “Bariatric surgery and left ventricular assist device in patients with heart failure: A systematic review and meta-analysis,” published in the September 2023 issue of Surgery by Sharma, et al.

Metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) in conjunction with left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation for managing end-stage heart failure in patients with severe obesity was not well-established.

A meta-analysis encompassed articles from the inception of Cochrane, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus databases up to November 2022.

The analysis included a total of 271 patients who underwent MBS either during or after LVAD implantation, derived from eleven distinct studies. After surgery, 67.4% of these patients were placed on the heart transplant waitlist, and 32.5% successfully received heart transplants. The average waitlist duration was found to be 13.8 months. Additionally, the combined postoperative complication rate, 30-day readmission rate, and one-year mortality rate were calculated to be 47.6%, 23.6%, and 10.2%, respectively.

The combination of MBS and LVAD proved to be a secure and efficacious strategy for bridging patients suffering from severe obesity and end-stage heart failure to the point of definitive heart transplantation.

Source: americanjournalofsurgery.com/article/S0002-9610(23)00268-4/fulltext