REVIEW OF TOPICS OF INTEREST
Pulsatile Pediatric Ventricular Assist Devices: Current Results for Bridge to Transplantation
Roland Hetzer, Matthias Loebe, Yuguo Weng, Vladimir Alexi-Meskhishvili, and Brigitte Stiller
While pulsatile ventricular assist devices have gained widespread use in adult patients awaiting heart transplantation, only very limited experience with these devices exists in the pediatric population. In the past mostly non-pulsatile systems such as ECMO have been used to support pediatric patients with heart failure for very limited periods of time. Only recently have miniaturized pulsatile devices became available. This article describes the technical characteristics of these devices which have been implanted at the Deutsches Herzzentrum Berlin since 1992. The Berlin Heart assist device has since been used in 34 children between the ages of 6 days and 16 years. We report our strategy in patient selection, perioperative care and subsequent heart transplantation. The current literature on mechanical circulatory support in children is reviewed.
Key words: Heart assist devices, pediatric cardiac surgery, heart transplantation, myocardial recovery, mechanical circulatory support.
From the Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, Deutsches Herzzentrum Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Address reprint requests to Roland Hetzer, MD, PhD, Deutsches Herzzentrum Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
© 1999 by W.B. Saunders Company
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