Ventricular assist device in pediatrics / 中国小儿急救医学

ABSTRACT

Ventricular assist device ( VAD) is the standard of care for intractable heart failure in adults over the last decade with proven benefit. However,the practice of pediatric VAD has lagged behind that of adult patients. The patient-device mismatch is the major factor that precludes its use in pediatrics. The Berlin EXCOR is the only FDA approved pediatric VAD. The aforementioned armamentarium provides a wide range of size of pump fitting variable body weight and pulsatile ventricular assist device. The VAD is commonly used as a bridge to heart transplantation in children with cardiomyopathy, or in rare instances, bridge to recovery. The VAD support for congenital heart defect is rarely reported and the outcome is poor. The continuous flow ventricular device showed advantages including small size,low incidence of thromboem-bolism and being discharged with device when compared to pulsatile one. So the continuous flow ventricular device is expected to open a new era for the VAD support in pediatrics.