Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients with Inflammatory Cardiomyopathies Receiving Mechanical Circulatory Support: An STS-Intermacs Registry Analysis

ABSTRACT Background Durable mechanical circulatory support therapy (MCS) improves survival in patients with advanced heart failure. Knowledge regarding the outcomes experienced by inflammatory cardiomyopathy patients who receive durable MCS therapy is limited. Methods We compared patients with inflammatory cardiomyopathy to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM) patients enrolled in the STS-Intermacs registry. Results Among 19,012 patients, 329 (1.7%) had inflammatory cardiomyopathy, whereas 5,978 had IDCM (31.4%). The inflammatory cardiomyopathy patients were younger, more likely to be white, and women. These patients experienced more pre-operative arrhythmias and higher use of temporary MCS. Inflammatory cardiomyopathy patients had a higher rate of early adverse events ( Conclusion Inflammatory cardiomyopathy patients who received durable MCS appear to have similar survival compared to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy patients despite a higher early adverse event burden. Our findings support the use of durable MCS in an inflammatory cardiomyopathy population.