Stress and Exposure Time on von Willebrand Factor Degradation

Despite the prevailing use of the continuous flow left ventricular assist devices (cf‐LVAD), acquired von Willebrand syndrome (AvWS) associated with cf‐LVAD still remains a major complication. As AvWS is known to be dependent on shear stress ( τ ) and exposure time ( t exp ), this study examined the degradation of high molecular weight multimers (HMWM) of von Willebrand factor (vWF) in terms of τ and t exp . Two custom apparatus, i.e.,...