Frailty improved in people who received a heart pump
Among 2,724 heart pump recipients, 95% were frail before implantation; 15% reached a nonfrail state by three months.
Multicenter
Limit: Frailty improvement reflected a health-deficit score, not a direct measure of physical performance
Stake: Authors work for Abbott.
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
A pooled analysis of clinical-trial data examined 2,724 people with advanced heart failure who received a HeartMate 3 implanted heart pump. Researchers scored frailty by tallying health deficits. Before implantation, 95% met the criteria for frailty.
Greater frailty was associated with higher risks of death and a combined outcome that included death, complications involving blood’s interaction with the pump, kidney dysfunction or failure of the heart’s right side. Frailty improved after implantation, with the largest absolute reductions among those initially severely frail. By three months, 15% reached a nonfrail state. Recovery was associated with a lower subsequent relative rate of the combined outcome, with a rate ratio of 0.53.
Why it matters
In advanced heart failure, the authors suggested that frailty may reflect vulnerability related to inadequate circulation rather than irreversible decline. They proposed that it may be a modifiable risk state when assessing candidates for long-term mechanical heart support.
Caveats
The pooled trial analysis linked frailty recovery with later outcomes but did not establish that recovery caused the lower risk. The findings concern people with advanced heart failure who received this pump, not older adults generally.
- Heartmate 3 left ventricular assist device
- Heart failure
- Kidney failure
- Right ventricular failure
- Frailty index
- Humans
The paper
UNSW Sydney; Harvard University
JACC Heart Failure, Sep 1, 2026, Open access
