Skip to main content
mayologo1
  • Patient Online Services
  • Pay Bill Online
  • Request an Appointment
    • Services
    • Providers
    • Locations

      Minnesota

      • Adams
      • Albert Lea
      • Austin
      • Belle Plaine
      • Blooming Prairie
      • Butterfield
      • Caledonia
      • Cannon Falls
      • Fairmont
      • Faribault
      • Janesville
      • Kenyon
      • Lake City
      • Le Sueur
      • Mankato
      • Montgomery
      • New Prague
      • New Richland
      • Northfield
      • Owatonna
      • Plainview
      • Red Wing
      • Sherburn
      • St. James
      • St. Peter
      • Waseca
      • Waterville
      • Wells
      • Zumbrota

      Wisconsin

      • Arcadia
      • Barron
      • Bloomer
      • Chetek
      • Chippewa Falls
      • Eau Claire
      • Ellsworth
      • Glenwood City
      • Holmen
      • La Crosse
      • Menomonie
      • Mondovi
      • Onalaska
      • Osseo
      • Prairie du Chien
      • Rice Lake
      • Sparta
      • Tomah

      Iowa

      • Decorah
      • Lake Mills

      View map
    • Classes/Events
    • Blog
    • Wellness
    • Referrals
    • COVID-19

    Recent Posts

    • Child on swing
      Speaking of Health
      Create an asthma action plan for your child
      March 24, 2023
    • Person with arm up, expressing joy
      Speaking of Health
      Tips for embracing joy in daily life
      March 23, 2023
    • Child eating apple
      Speaking of Health
      How to help your child reach a healthy weight
      March 23, 2023
    Featured Topics
    • Behavioral Health
    • Cancer
    • Children's Health (Pediatrics)
    • COVID-19
    • COVID-19 Vaccine
    • Exercise and Fitness
    • Heart Health
    • Men's Health
    • Neurosurgery
    • Obstetrics and Gynecology
    • Orthopedic Health
    • Weight Loss and Bariatric Surgery
    • Women's Health
    Join our email newsletter
    Speaking of Health
    Thursday, December 26, 2013

    Shared care offers new options for patients with LVADs

    Topics in this Post
    • Heart Health

    lvad graphicPatients with severe congestive heart failure may benefit from a ventricular assist device, a mechanical device that helps pump blood from the lower chambers of the heart (the ventricles) to the body, enhancing the heart’s function. Left ventricular assist devices, or LVADs, are the most common form of this therapy. Originally used for patients awaiting heart transplant or recovering from surgery, LVADs increasingly are a long-term solution that provides a good quality of life.

    “Sometimes when an LVAD is implanted as a bridge to transplant, the patient feels they do reasonably well with it and opts not to have the transplant. Patients who don’t respond to medical therapy go through an in-depth evaluation to determine if they are good candidates for LVADs. Most benefit from dramatically improved symptoms and survival rates for heart failure,” says Daniel T. Kincaid, M.D., a cardiologist in Eau Claire. “They often can live a nearly normal life. Some even golf.”

    The LVADs are implanted at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. “At Mayo, 19 circulatory failure specialists see patients with heart failure who may receive or have received transplants or ventricular assist devices,” says Margaret M. Redfield, M.D., a cardiologist in Rochester. “We also see patients with pulmonary hypertension, which destroys blood vessels in the lungs.”

    Patients generally stay in the hospital in Rochester for two to four weeks following LVAD implant surgery and return for follow-up care every month, initially, and then every two to four months. Four LVAD coordinators see patients in Rochester for their regularly scheduled appointments. They share appointment notes with the Daniel Kincaid, M.D.patients’ primary care providers and cardiologists, who may contact the LVAD coordinators with questions during their own appointments with these patients.

    Eau Claire named a shared care center

    Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire was recently designated a LVAD shared care center by a LVAD manufacturer, which will allow the facility to provide care for both Mayo and non-Mayo patients with LVADs. 

    “Patients won’t need to travel to Rochester as often for follow-up care,” says Dr. Kincaid. “More importantly, the designation means that there will be a medical facility and well-qualified staff to work with these complicated, sophisticated medical devices in our area.”


    For the safety of our patients, staff and visitors, Mayo Clinic has strict masking policies in place. Anyone shown without a mask was either recorded prior to COVID-19 or recorded in a non-patient care area where social distancing and other safety protocols were followed.
    Topics in this Post
    • Heart Health

    Related Posts

    Dave Andros The (heart)beat goes on for Dave Andros after cardiac arrest
    Illustrated blood pressure cuff High blood pressure: The silent killer
    Two people hugging close-up Your heart can break from stress

    Stay Connected

    • Contact Us
    • Notice of Nondiscrimination
    • Notice of Privacy Practices
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • About Us
    • Careers
    • Volunteer
    • Donate
    • For Patients & Visitors
    • Financial Assistance
    • Community Resources
    • Mayo Clinic Connect
    • For Medical Professionals
    • Press Room
    • Mayo Clinic
    • Home
    © 2018 - 2023 Mayo Clinic Health System