Take Heart: Bariatric Surgery in Obese Patients with Severe Heart Failure. Two Case Reports

Bariatric surgery may be an effective treatment for obese heart failure patients, enabling access to cardiac transplantation and/or improvement of symptoms. We report the outcomes of two morbidly obese patients with end-stage heart failure, where obesity precluded cardiac transplantation and underwent laparoscopic gastric banding. A 42 year-old male with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy weighing 124.4 kg (BMI 42 kg/m(2)) lost 34 kg and was successfully transplanted 11 months later. A 40 year-old woman with familial dilated cardiomyopathy weighing 105 kg (BMI 40 kg/m(2)) lost 14 kg with sufficient symptomatic resolution to no longer require cardiac transplantation. In selected patients with severe heart failure and concomitant morbid obesity, bariatric surgery may be a reasonable treatment option. (Heart, Lung and Circulation 2012;21:847-849) Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Inc on behalf of Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS) and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ). All rights reserved.