Circulation. Heart failure
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Multicenter Study
Multicenter Evaluation of Octreotide as Secondary Prophylaxis in Patients With Left Ventricular Assist Devices and Gastrointestinal Bleeding.
Gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is one of the most common complications after continuous-flow left ventricular assist device implantation. More than one third of patients with incident bleed go on to develop recurrent GI bleeding. Octreotide, a somatostatin analog, is proposed to reduce the risk of recurrent GI bleeding in this population. ⋯ Patients with continuous-flow left ventricular assist device receiving secondary prophylaxis with octreotide had a significantly lower GI bleed recurrence compared with historical controls not treated with octreotide. Additional prospective studies are needed to confirm these data.