Heart and Diabetes Center NRW · Decision guide

Heart and Diabetes Center NRW: heart surgery expertise

Bad Oeynhausen, Germany · LVAD care that continues after implantation

Research by Yevhenii Kozlov · Co-Founder of BookimedUpdated 8 October 2026Sources linked throughout

At a glance

HDZ NRW links cardiac surgery, transplant follow-up and an integrated heart-failure centre. Dedicated VAD coordinators make device support a defined part of the service alongside the implantation procedure.

Specialist device support

The department describes VAD coordinators and specialist medical/nursing support for patients with mechanical assistance.

Sources: Thoracic and cardiovascular surgery

Inpatient and outpatient continuity

Its integrated heart-failure centre coordinates care across hospital and outpatient settings.

Sources: Heart failure centre

Right-heart function remains important

A 57-patient imaging study found only modest prediction of right-heart failure after HeartMate 3 implantation, supporting assessment beyond one measurement.

Sources: Assessment of the predictive value of right ventricular longitudinal strain and functional trends in right ventricular function of patients after LVAD implantation.

Clinical staff speaking with a patient on the HDZ NRW cardiac surgery department page
Photograph published by HDZ NRW’s Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. · Image source ↗
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Clinical benefits and limitations

Potential advantages

Trade-offs and limits

Specialists and their clinical work

Procedure-specific research

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Useful risk research with modest prediction

The retrospective study analysed 57 patients with adequate imaging from 95 consecutive recipients. Right-ventricular strain provided modest discrimination; no echocardiographic parameter was an independent multivariable predictor.

How to interpret this: Small selected imaging cohort. It does not supply a universal threshold, personal surgical rate or validated prediction for an individual patient.

Sources: Assessment of the predictive value of right ventricular longitudinal strain and functional trends in right ventricular function of patients after LVAD implantation.

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