Continuous Flow Left Ventricular Assist Devices Can Improve Sleep Quality of Advanced Heart Failure Patients

Abstract

Purpose Sleep disturbance deteriorates quality of life, and sleep quality of heart failure (HF) patients is worse than that of non-HF patients. In patients with advanced HF, continuous left ventricular assist device (cf-LVAD) is used for the improvement of their quality of life and prognosis. However, the effect on sleep quality of cf-LVAD therapy is unknown. Therefore, this study was aimed to reveal the effect of cf-LVAD on sleep quality. Methods Thirteen patients who received polysomnography before and after cf-LVAD implantation in Osaka University Hospital were studied. Patient characteristics and sleep parameters, including total sleep time, sleep efficiency (total sleep time/sleep period time), sleep latency, wake time after sleep onset, and the proportion of slow wave sleep to total sleep time, were obtained. Results After LVAD implantation, BNP levels decreased (399±110 to 163±144 pg/ml, P Conclusion Cf-LVAD therapy improves sleep quality in advanced heart failure patients.