Doctors at St. Louis Children's Hospital in New York have used miniaturised heart-assist devices in children, to keep them alive while they await a heart transplant.
Dr. Sanjiv K. Gandhi and colleagues implanted the devices into nine young patients with heart failure or complex congenital heart defects. They ranged in age from 12 days to 17 years.
One of them, a 2,7kg infant, developed kidney failure and died. The remaining eight patients were successfully bridged to heart transplantation after being supported by the heart pump for up to 77 days.
Twelve pump changes in five patients were necessary because of various complications, the team reports in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association. However, there were no strokes or blood clots or bleeding complications.
While these results demonstrate the feasibility of heart-assist support in small children, Gandhi and colleagues say the "experience emphasises the importance of continued development and refinement of mechanical (heart) assist devices in the paediatric population."