The absence of flow is what causes blood to clot.
On top of that, people with an LVAD are continuously on strong anticoagulants (vitamin K antagonists) or heparin.
That being said, it is difficult to tell for sure and clotting would definitely occur in multiple places throughout the body as tissues and organs start to become necrotic, as would haemorrhage due to damaged blood vessels.
But whether the actual pump itself would get blocked before the battery runs out, I don’t think so, since that is where the flow is highest still and the battery pack only lasts a couple of hours before it needs to be replaced.
Yup, there is a cable running through their skin connected to battery packs outside of the body that need to be changed regularly, so patients are always walking around with a bag containing the battery packs wherever they go.
The absence of flow is what causes blood to clot. On top of that, people with an LVAD are continuously on strong anticoagulants (vitamin K antagonists) or heparin.
That being said, it is difficult to tell for sure and clotting would definitely occur in multiple places throughout the body as tissues and organs start to become necrotic, as would haemorrhage due to damaged blood vessels.
But whether the actual pump itself would get blocked before the battery runs out, I don’t think so, since that is where the flow is highest still and the battery pack only lasts a couple of hours before it needs to be replaced.
Hours?!?
Yup, there is a cable running through their skin connected to battery packs outside of the body that need to be changed regularly, so patients are always walking around with a bag containing the battery packs wherever they go.
If it only lasts a couple hours, how do they sleep for more than 3 hours?
A couple is maybe a bit of an understatement. It’s likely about 8-10 hours