Endoscopic Evaluation and Management of Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Patients with Ventricular Assist Devices

Table 1

Demographic data in 20 VAD patients admitted for overt GI bleeding.

Patients (no.)	20
Total number of bleeding episodes	36
Male/female	11/9
Median age (y)	56.9 (range 41–72)
Ischemic heart disease	17
Bleeding presentation
Melena	19
Hematemesis	9
Hematochezia	7
Hematemesis and hematochezia	1
Mean Hgb (g/dL)	9.01 (range 4.9–10.9)
Mean INR for pts on anticoagulation	2.29 (range 1.4–4.9)
Mean INR for pts not anticoagulated	1.4 (range 1.2–1.6)
Mean platelet count	215 K/ul (range 52–630)
Mean units of blood transfused*	3.3 (range 0–10)
Fresh frozen plasma*	0.75 (range 0–8)

*Per episode of bleeding.