A patient with LVAD reports persistent sadness, anhedonia, and fatigue. Which complication is most consistent?

• A. Stroke
• B. RH failure
• C. Depression
• D. Device failure/death

Answer: (C)

Persistent sadness, anhedonia, and fatigue in an LVAD patient point to depression rather than a device or neurological problem. Stroke would show focal neurologic deficits such as weakness, numbness, or speech trouble, which aren’t described here. Right-sided heart failure would produce signs of volume overload—edema, hepatomegaly, ascites, jugular venous distention, or breathlessness—rather than mood changes. Device failure or death would lead to abrupt deterioration in device function, alarms, hemodynamic instability, chest pain, or sudden collapse, not a depressive syndrome. So this presentation best fits depression, a condition that can occur in LVAD patients and requires appropriate psychosocial assessment and treatment.