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Kalookiqueen Recipient

Suction events???

Urgent reply needed

In the four months I have had my Heartmate II, my LVAD coordinator has downloaded my history and I have had several 'suction events' without symptoms!

Is this the same as a PI event? Does anyone get them? If so do they have symptoms??

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Anonymous

All suction events are PI events, but not all PI events are suction events :) A suction event is a drop in speed. Suction events can be caused by a number of conditions (dehydration, blood loss, medications, position changes, etc). Since you aren't symptomatic, it may be related to how the pump is positioned in your chest. As the months move along and you are healing, the pump may "migrate". As long as you are not symptomatic, do not be concerned :)