Heartfelt research to improve care for patients waiting for heart transplants
Dr Jay Baumwol and nurse practitioner, Julie McLean from the Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Service
Researchers at Fiona Stanley Hospital (FSH) are contributing to a study to improve care for patients using ventricular assist devices.
Ventricular assist devices circulate blood from a chamber of the heart (ventricle) to the rest of the body and are often used in people who have advanced heart failure and are waiting for transplants.
The study, which is happening across healthcare providers in Australia and New Zealand, will record demographics such as a patient’s primary cardiac diagnoses, their past medical history, blood work, quality of life and echocardiography details.
It will also take note of why the patient was given the pump, their operation, the type of device they were given and how long they had to pump for.
The registry will provide insight on clinical events prior to implantation, reducing the potential of series events elated to the pump and the type of pump used whilst having the potential to decrease infection rates.
By documenting this crucial information, researchers are hoping to develop an understanding of the patients who have had ventricular assist devices and identify any trends in the clinical outcomes post- ventricular assist device implantation.
Nurse practitioner from the Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Service, Julie McLean, believes the data found will allow for significant improvement not only for FSH ventricular assist device patients but those around the world.
“It will be highly beneficial for us to see trends in patients with ventricular assist devices from Australia and New Zealand so that we can adopt best practice care” Julie said.
“Hopefully, from this study we can also collaborate with researchers, globally, to see how we can best care for and support patients with their ventricular assist device surgeries and use.”
