How is the Impella LVAD placed?
Via a femoral artery. The inlet is in the left ventricle below the aortic valve. The outlet is above the aortic valve in the ascending aorta.
What is a normal value for cardiac output?
Normal cardiac output in an adult is 2.5 to 5.0 L/min.
What is the most common indication for LVAD placement?
The most common indication is for cardiogenic shock, hoping the left ventricle will recover quickly as can happen in the setting of acute myocardial infarction. In this case, the left main or proximal left anterior descending (LAD) underwent coronary stenting, but the Impella LVAD was placed before starting the stent procedure.
Impella LVAD is highlighted in yellow.
The stent is in blue.
Third image has no annotations to compare with.
Zoomed in and sharper with edge enhancement of image.