Hyperkalemia in patients with left ventricular assist devices

Authors

Teruhiko Imamura, Second Department of Internal Medicine, University of Toyama Toyama Japan.
Nikhil Narang, Advocate Aurora HealthFollow
Pamela Combs, Department of Surgery, University of Chicago Medical Center Chicago, IL USA.Follow
Umar Siddiqi, Department of Surgery, University of Chicago Medical Center Chicago, IL USA.
Corinne Stonebraker, Department of Surgery, University of Chicago Medical Center Chicago, IL USA.
Valluvan Jeevanandam, Department of Surgery, University of Chicago Medical Center Chicago, IL USA.

Recommended Citation

Imamura T, Narang N, Combs P, Siddiqi U, Stonebraker C, Jeevanandam V. Hyperkalemia in Patients With Left Ventricular Assist Devices. Circ Rep. 2021;3(11):647-653. Published 2021 Sep 29. doi:10.1253/circrep.CR-21-0078

Affiliations

Advocate Christ Medical Center

Abstract

Both hypo- and hyperkalemia are associated with adverse events in heart failure patients. Their effects on patients with left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) remains unknown. The cohort included consecutive patients undergoing LVAD implantation between 2014 and 2018. In all, 170 patients (median age 56 years; 117 males) were stratified according to serum potassium levels 1 month after implantation into 3 groups: hypokalemia (<3.5 mEq/L; n=15), normokalemia (n=146), and hyperkalemia (>5.0 mEq/L; n=9). Compared with the normokalemia group, the adjusted hazard ratios for 1-year mortality were 0.91 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.21-3.92) for hypokalemia and 4.14 (95% CI 1.47-11.65) for hyperkalemia. In the hyperkalemia group, the prevalence of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors decreased and serum potassium levels normalized following the first month. Hyperkalemia was associated with increased mortality during LVAD support. Management of serum potassium needs further investigation.

Document Type

Article

PubMed ID

34805604