Early Postoperative Changes in von Willebrand Factor Activity Are Associated with Future Bleeding and Stroke in HeartMate 3 Patients

Abstract

Hemocompatibility-related adverse events (HRAEs), particularly gastrointestinal bleeding, remain a frequent complication after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. The current study sought to describe and analyze whether early (<60 days) postoperative von Willebrand factor (VWF) activity assays predict the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding and stroke. A prospective single-center study including 74 HeartMate 3 device recipients between 2016 and 2023 was undertaken. The postoperative trajectory of the VWF profile was analyzed using linear mixed-effect models and Cox models were used to quantify associations between an early postoperative dip (≤0.7) in VWF activity assay measurements and late outcomes. Preoperatively, the mean VWF:Activity (Act)/Antigen (Ag) and VWF:Collagen Binding (CB)/Ag ratios were 0.94 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.81-1.02) and 0.95 (95% CI = 0.80-1.03), respectively, decreasing to 0.66 (95% CI = 0.57-0.73) and 0.67 (95% CI = 0.58-0.74) within 40 days (p < 0.05). In patients with VWF:CB/Ag and VWF:Act/Ag ratios ≤0.7 significantly more gastrointestinal bleeding (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.53; 95% CI = 1.1-5.8, and HR: 3.7; 95% CI = 1.5-9.2, respectively) and hemorrhagic stroke events (HR: 3.5; 95% CI = 1.6-7.6 and HR: 4.9; 95% CI = 2.1-11.7, respectively) were observed throughout the entire late (>60 days) postoperative period. In patients with VWF:Act/Ag ratio ≤0.7 less ischemic stroke events were observed (HR: 0.11; 95% CI = 0.01-0.85). In conclusion, VWF:Act/Ag and VWF:CB/Ag ratios ≤0.7 in the early postoperative phase can be used as biomarkers to predict HRAEs during long-term LVAD support.