The Use of Pediatric Ventricular Assist Devices in Children's Hospitals From 2000 to 2010: Morbidity, Mortality, and Hospital Charges.

OBJECTIVE: The use of ventricular assist devices has increased dramatically in adult heart failure patients. However, the overall use, outcome, comorbidities, and resource utilization of ventricular assist devices in pediatric patients have not been well described. We sought to demonstrate that the use of ventricular assist devices in pediatric patients has increased over time and that mortality has decreased. DESIGN: A retrospective study of the Pediatric Health Information System database was performed for patients 20 years old or younger undergoing ventricular assist device placement from 2000 to 2010. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Four hundred seventy-five pediatric patients were implanted with ventricular assist devices during the study period: 69 in 2000-2003 (era 1), 135 in 2004-2006 (era 2), and 271 in 2007-2010 (era 3). Median age at ventricular assist device implantation was 6.0 years (interquartile range, 0.5-13.8), and the proportion of children who were 1-12 years old increased from 29% in era 1 to 47% in era 3 (p = 0.002). The majority of patients had a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy; this increased from 52% in era 1 to 72% in era 3 (p = 0.003). Comorbidities included arrhythmias (48%), pulmonary hypertension (16%), acute renal failure (34%), cerebrovascular disease (28%), and sepsis/systemic inflammatory response syndrome (34%). Two hundred forty-seven patients (52%) underwent heart transplantation and 327 (69%) survived to hospital discharge. Hospital mortality decreased from 42% in era 1 to 25% in era 3 (p = 0.004). Median hospital length of stay increased (37 d [interquartile range, 12-64 d] in era 1 vs 69 d [interquartile range, 35-130] in era 3; p < 0.001) and median adjusted hospital charges increased ($630,630 [interquartile range, $227,052-$853,318] in era 1 vs $1,577,983 [interquartile range, $874,463-$2,280,435] in era 3; p < 0.001). Factors associated with increased mortality include age less than 1 year (odds ratio, 2.04; 95% CI, 1.01-3.83), acute renal failure (odds ratio, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.26-3.65), cerebrovascular disease (odds ratio, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.25-3.62), and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (odds ratio, 3.16; 95% CI, 1.79-5.60). Ventricular assist device placement in era 3 (odds ratio, 0.3; 95% CI, 0.15-0.57) and a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy (odds ratio, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.32-0.84), were associated with decreased mortality. Large-volume centers had lower mortality (odds ratio, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.34-0.88), lower use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and higher charges. CONCLUSIONS: The use of ventricular assist devices and survival after ventricular assist device placement in pediatric patients have increased over time, with a concomitant increase in resource utilization. Age under 1 year, certain noncardiac morbidities, and the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation are associated with worse outcomes. Lower mortality was seen at larger volume ventricular assist device centers.

Pediatric heart transplantation from donors with depressed ventricular function: an analysis of the United Network of Organ Sharing Database.

BACKGROUND: Wait-list mortality for children awaiting heart transplantation remains high. Potential donor hearts with depressed ventricular function are often declined. We aimed to test the hypothesis that pediatric heart transplant recipients of grafts with depressed ventricular function would have comparable survival with those with normal function. METHODS AND RESULTS: A retrospective study was performed for pediatric heart transplants from the United Network of Organ Sharing Database from October 26, 1999, to June 30, 2011. Patients were grouped based on accepted donor left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF): normal function (LVEF ≥55%), mildly depressed function (LVEF 45%-54%), or moderately-to-severely depressed function (LVEF <45%). During the study period, there were 3672 pediatric heart transplants; 3306 (90%) had a LVEF reported. Ventricular function was mildly depressed in 245 (7%) and moderately-to-severely depressed in 172 (5%). Patients receiving grafts with moderately-to-severely depressed function were more likely to be younger and weigh less (P<0.001 for both) than those receiving grafts with normal function. Median graft survival from accepted donors with normal ventricular function (10.6 years) was similar to survival from accepted donors with mildly depressed ventricular function (9.7 years; P=0.24) and from accepted donors with moderately-to-severely depressed ventricular function (9.1 years; P=0.13). On propensity-matched analysis, donor ventricular function was not associated with graft survival. CONCLUSIONS: The use of donors with depressed ventricular function is uncommon in pediatric heart transplantation (<15% of all transplants), yet graft survival does not differ significantly from accepted donors with normal ventricular function. Hearts from donors with depressed ventricular function may be considered in selected patients.