PMID- 37980253 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20231226 LR - 20240227 IS - 1873-2623 (Electronic) IS - 0041-1345 (Linking) VI - 55 IP - 10 DP - 2023 Dec TI - Revisiting Pulmonary Hypertension in the Era of Temporary Mechanical Circulatory Support - Literature Review and Case-Based Discussion. PG - 2462-2469 LID - S0041-1345(23)00650-4 [pii] LID - 10.1016/j.transproceed.2023.09.022 [doi] AB - BACKGROUND: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by persistently increased pressure in the pulmonary arteries. New defining criteria for the different hemodynamic types of pulmonary hypertension (PH) that occur with left heart disease have been proposed by the task force on PH. After consideration of the changes in the general definition of PH in left heart disease, the proposed hemodynamic definition was: (1) isolated postcapillary PH: pulmonary artery wedge pressure >15 mm Hg and mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) >20 mm Hg and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) <3 Woods units (WU); and (2) combined post- and precapillary PH: pulmonary artery wedge pressure >15 mm Hg, mPAP >20 mm Hg, and PVR >/=3 WU. Secondary PH is initially reversible, but eventually, it can become fixed because of the remodeling process of the pulmonary vascular system. Limitations in defining both the time for and amount of reversibility lack clarity. We discuss a case of PH as a framework to better understand these key principles in addressing patients' candidacy for heart or heart-lung transplantation. METHODS: We performed a literature search for all available contemporary data with the following terms: "pulmonary hypertension," "reversal," "Impella 5.5," "temporary mechanical support," and "LVAD" using the National Library of Medicine - PubMed and PubMed Central between 2019 and 2023. A total of 14 published papers were found with these search. From these, 3 addressed the issue of PH and reversibility in the setting of LHD after durable LVAD placement. No papers were found using Impella 5.5 and PH during this timeframe. Given the paucity of data in the field regarding temporary mechanical circulatory support and pulmonary hypertension, we present a case-based discussion to guide the reader in understanding the potential impact of this method in patients with WHO Class 2 Pulmonary hypertension. CASE: A 49-year-old woman with a medical history of acute on chronic biventricular systolic and diastolic heart failure, American College of Cardiology stage D, Stevenson profile C, New York Heart Association class IV (ejection fraction 18%) secondary to nonischemic cardiomyopathy after cardiac resynchronization therapy, pulmonary hypertension, bilateral deep vein thrombosis, and segmental pulmonary embolism presented for heart transplant evaluation. Her cardiac output and central hemodynamics were measured, and she was found to have a pulmonary artery (PA) pressure of 78/38 with a mean PA pressure of 51, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) 30, transpulmonary pressure gradient (TPG) 21, thermodilution cardiac output (CO) 3.35 L/min, and cardiac input (CI) 1.75 L/min/m2. Her PVR was 6.2 WU. Provocative pharmacologic testing for reversibility of PH was performed using sodium nitroprusside, which resulted in a blood pressure of 83/57 (92), heart rate 92/min, and PA pressure of 71/31, with a mean PA pressure of 44 PCWP 22, TPG 22, CO 4.8 L/min, and CI of 2.48 L/min/m2 with a PVR of 4.5 WU. Following this, the patient underwent Impella 5.5 placement through the right axillary artery to optimize afterload reduction and improve end-organ perfusion. Post-Impella hemodynamics on milrinone 0.5 mcg/kg/min demonstrated the following: blood pressure 90/66 (74), heart rate 53/min, and PA pressure of 56/29, with a mean PA pressure of 38, PCWP 24, TPG 14, CO 6 L/min, and CI of 2.9 L/min/m2 with a PVR of 2.3 WU. CONCLUSION: Left ventricular assist device support with Impella 5.5 is associated with a reduction in mPAP and PVR over weeks to months and thus plays a crucial role as a bridge to transplant. Our case and this review highlights the characteristics of PH resulting from heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and discusses the important clinical issues related to the treatment of these patients. We have shown that left ventricular assist device therapy with Impella 5.5 can effectively reduce left-sided filling pressures and lead to PH improvement. We demonstrate the potential benefits of Impella 5.5 in the management of patients with WHO 2 PH and cardiogenic shock with impaired hemodynamics. CI - Copyright (c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. FAU - Sharma, Shriya AU - Sharma S AD - Division of Heart Failure and Transplant, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida. FAU - Ruiz, Jose AU - Ruiz J AD - Division of Heart Failure and Transplant, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida. FAU - Paghdar, Smit AU - Paghdar S AD - Division of Heart Failure and Transplant, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida. FAU - Desai, Smruti AU - Desai S AD - Division of Heart Failure and Transplant, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida. FAU - Goswami, Rohan AU - Goswami R AD - Division of Heart Failure and Transplant, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida. Electronic address: Goswami.rohan@mayo.edu. LA - eng PT - Case Reports PT - Journal Article PT - Review DEP - 20231118 PL - United States TA - Transplant Proc JT - Transplantation proceedings JID - 0243532 SB - IM MH - Female MH - Humans MH - Middle Aged MH - *Heart Failure/surgery/complications MH - Hemodynamics MH - *Hypertension, Pulmonary/etiology/surgery/drug therapy MH - Pulmonary Wedge Pressure/physiology MH - Vascular Resistance/physiology MH - *Assisted Circulation COIS- Declaration of Competing Interest R.G. is a consultant for Abiomed but did not receive research funding for the publication of this manuscript. EDAT- 2023/11/19 09:42 MHDA- 2023/12/26 06:41 CRDT- 2023/11/18 22:01 PHST- 2023/08/24 00:00 [received] PHST- 2023/09/22 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2023/12/26 06:41 [medline] PHST- 2023/11/19 09:42 [pubmed] PHST- 2023/11/18 22:01 [entrez] AID - S0041-1345(23)00650-4 [pii] AID - 10.1016/j.transproceed.2023.09.022 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Transplant Proc. 2023 Dec;55(10):2462-2469. doi: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2023.09.022. Epub 2023 Nov 18.