Myocardial recovery following pulsatile biventricular assist device support in infants: Report of 2 cases

Abstract

Use of pulsatile ventricular assist devices (VAD) is a well-established strategy for supporting children with end-stage heart failure (HF), as a bridge to heart transplant. In 2005, Stiller and colleagues1 described a cohort of 73 pediatric patients managed using Excor pumps (Berlin Heart Inc, Woodlands, Tex), of whom 12.5% were successfully weaned of support. Since then, there have been multiple reports of successful pulsatile VAD weans in children.2,3 Myocardial recovery has been usually reported within a window of 1 to 2 weeks, on extracorporeal support and longer on VAD support.