Antithrombotic therapy for durable left ventricular assist devices - current strategies and future directions.

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) improve survival and quality of life for patients with advanced heart failure but are associated with high rates of thromboembolic and hemorrhagic complications. Antithrombotic therapy is required following LVAD implantation, though practices vary. Identifying a therapeutic strategy that minimizes the risks of thromboembolic and hemorrhagic complications is critical to optimizing patient outcomes and is an area of active investigation. This paper reviews strategies for initiating and maintaining antithrombotic therapy in durable LVAD recipients, focusing on those with centrifugal-flow devices. © Indian Association of Cardiovascular-Thoracic Surgeons 2022, Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.