The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne is the National Paediatric Heart Transplant Centre of Australia. A variety of ventricular assist devices (VADs) have been used effectively as a bridge to heart transplantation in adult patients, however, the experience in the paediatric population is limited. We present our initial experience using the Thoratec and Medos VAD systems as a bridge to heart transplantation in the designated centre for paediatric cardiac transplantation in Australia. The medical records of all patients supported with a Thoratec or Medos VAD at the RCH from July 2005 to July 2007 were retrospectively reviewed. Seven patients between 5 and 16 years of age were supported with the Thoratec or Medos VAD during the period of study. All of the patients were supported with a left sided ventricular assist device (LVAD). The length of time supported ranged from 6 to 230 days, with a median of 22 days. Co-morbidities included surgical re-exploration for bleeding, cannula site wound infections and thromboembolic events. Two patients died before a donor heart became available. From our limited experience, the use of a VAD as a bridge to heart transplantation is a feasible option for children with end stage cardiac failure.
Copyright (c) 2009 Australasian Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.