Research

Mixed

Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) combined with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) serves as a feasible and effective pathway to cardiac transplantation in morbidly obese patients with end-stage heart failure.

If you have severe heart failure and are too heavy for a heart transplant, getting an LVAD (heart pump) and sleeve gastrectomy (stomach reduction) together is a viable medical pathway. This combination can significantly reduce your weight and make you eligible for a transplant, which was previously impossible due to your size. This requires specialized surgical care.

LimitedSupportsLOW confidence
LVAD and SG constitute a feasible pathway to cardiac transplantation in morbidly obese patients with end-stage HF. LVAD permits temporary cardiac support, whereas SG assists in efficacious weight loss.
J Greene et al. · JSLS Journal of the Society of Laparoscopic & Robotic Surgeons · 2017

Why this rating

Small case series (n=3), retrospective review, no control group.

Source

Sleeve Gastrectomy and Left Ventricular Assist Device for Heart Transplant

J Greene et al. · JSLS Journal of the Society of Laparoscopic & Robotic Surgeons · 2017

DOI 10.4293/jsls.2017.00049

case_series · n=3Cited 29×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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