Partial Nephrectomy in a Patient with a Left Ventricular Assist Device

Abstract EN

Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) use has increased as a bridge to heart transplant as well as destination therapy in patients with severe heart failure.

Presence of LVAD is not a contraindication to noncardiac surgery but does present special challenges to the surgical, anesthesia, and cardiac teams.

We present the case of a 40-year-old woman with idiopathic cardiomyopathy necessitating LVAD who underwent left partial nephrectomy for a renal mass.

She had undergone three nondiagnostic percutaneous image-guided biopsies.

Left partial nephrectomy was performed.

Perioperative care was without incident due to careful oversight by a multidisciplinary team.

Pathology revealed high-grade clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with negative margins.

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) bolsters were misidentified six months postoperatively on computed tomography (CT) at an outside institution as a retained laparotomy sponge.

This is, to our knowledge, the first report of a partial nephrectomy performed in a patient with LVAD.