Heart pump helps children sustain through their 'transplant waiting time'

Missouri, September 30: In a remarkable medical feat, a miniature heart pump is helping the smallest critically ill children stay alive long enough to receive a heart transplant.

While heart assist devices from Thoratec Corp., World Heart Corp. and Ventracor Ltd. are available for adults and young children with severely damaged hearts to sustain them through their ‘waiting period’, no treatment options till date, were available for the smallest children in the US.

Priced at $50,000 the small heart pump, called the Berlin Heart Excor, can help even the smallest children awaiting a transplant to easily wait for months till a suitable heart becomes available, researchers aver.

In a small clinical trial, researchers fitted the device in nine children, 7 girls and 2 boys. Ranging from a 12-day-old to a 17-year-old, all had severe heart failure with most weighing less than 80 pounds.

While one of the nine children died of kidney damage that worsened after surgery to install the device, all others sustained well until they underwent surgery for a heart transplant.

Treated at the Saint Louis Children's Hospital in Missouri between April 2005 and July 2007, the children received transplants after as many as 77 days of using the device.

"The potential benefits are huge," lead researcher of the study, Dr. Sanjiv K. Gandhi said. "A lot of the children in whom they were implanted would probably not have made it with conventional therapy while waiting for a suitable heart."

According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, an estimated 250 children age 17 and under are awaiting heart transplants in the U.S.

While larger heart pumps approved for use in U.S. can be installed in adults and children aged 5 and older, patients who don’t qualify for the device typically undergo a more complicated treatment wherein the blood is removed from the body, oxygenated and then pumped back.

The process, besides being ineffective for long-term use makes the patient vulnerable to infections and neurological impairment.

The device is currently awaiting its Food and Drug Administration approval for use in US.

The results of the study feature in the current issue of Cardiovascular Surgery Supplement of Circulation.