Left ventricular assist devices versus medical management in ambulatory heart failure patients: An analysis of INTERMACS Profiles 4 and 5 to 7 from the ROADMAP study

LVAD patients in IM4, but not IM5-7, are more likely to meet the primary end-point and have improvements in HRQoL and depression compared with OMM, even with AEs generally being more frequent. LVAD therapy with current technology may be beneficial in select IM4 patients, but can be deferred for most IM5-7 patients, who should be followed closely due to the high frequency of treatment failures.