Skip to main content
MCHS_Logo_2024_BLACK
  • Patient Portal
  • Pay Bill Online
  • Request an Appointment
    • Services

      Featured Services

      • Cardiology (Heart)
      • Gastroenterology & Hepatology (Digestive Care)
      • Neurosurgery
      • Obstetrics & Gynecology (OB-GYN)
      • Oncology (Cancer)
      • Orthopedics & Orthopedic Surgery (Bones)
      • Primary Care
      • Spine Care
      • Sports Medicine
      • Surgery
      • Urology

      View all services
    • Providers
    • Locations

      Minnesota

      • Albert Lea
      • Austin
      • Belle Plaine
      • Blooming Prairie
      • Butterfield
      • Caledonia
      • Cannon Falls
      • Fairmont
      • Faribault
      • Lake City
      • Lake Crystal
      • Mankato
      • Montgomery
      • New Prague
      • Northfield
      • Owatonna
      • Plainview
      • Red Wing
      • Rochester
      • 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

      View map
    • Classes/Events
    • Blog
    • Wellness
    • Referrals

    Recent Posts

    • Two people working
      Speaking of Health
      Maintaining healthy relationships with age
      May 15, 2025
    • Charlie Pierce
      Patient Stories
      The sound of success: How improved hearing aids career change
      May 01, 2025
    • Cutting yellow pepper on board
      Speaking of Health
      Eating healthy on a budget
      April 24, 2025
    Featured Topics
    • Behavioral Health
    • Cancer
    • Children's Health (Pediatrics)
    • Exercise and Fitness
    • Heart Health
    • Men's Health
    • Neurosurgery
    • Obstetrics and Gynecology
    • Orthopedic Health
    • Weight-loss (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

    Patients 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, or 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.

    lvad graphic

    "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 patients' primary care providers and cardiologists, who may contact the LVAD coordinators with questions during their own appointments with these patients.

    Eau Claire named shared care center

    Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire recently was 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."

    Topics in this Post
    • Heart Health

    Related Posts

    White smartwatch on wrist Interval training for heart health
    Jim Hurt17 From heart surgery to hunting: Man back doing what he loves
    Brad Wendland Sudden cardiac arrest sidelines coach during game

    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
    • Price Transparency
    • Community Resources
    • Mayo Clinic Connect
    • For Medical Professionals
    • Press Room
    • Mayo Clinic
    • Manage Cookie
    © 2018 - 2025 Mayo Clinic Health System