Heart assist device helps kids awaiting transplant

NEW YORK May 17(Reuters) Mechanical appliances called ventricular assist devices or VADs, designed to take over part of the work done by the heart, successfully bridge the waiting period for many kids needing a heart transplant, according to a new report. In recent years, the success rate has climbed to 86 percent.

''Bridging over 85 per cent of patients successfully is really encouraging,'' Dr Elizabeth D Blume, from Children's Hospital Boston, said in a statement. ''It shows that, despite the fact that none of these devices were designed specifically for children, a group of smaller patients can take advantage of the adult technology and do as well, if not better.'' VADs have been used successfully in adults to bridge the gap to heart transplantation, but there are only limited data involving children.

In the new study, reported in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation, the researchers assessed the outcome of 99 children who were awaiting heart transplantation between January 1993 and December 2003 and were given a VAD.

The average duration of VAD support was 57 days, and ranged from one to 465 days. Seventy patients were supported by a long-term device.

Overall, 77 per cent of patients were successfully supported until they could undergo heart transplantation, but as mentioned, the rate climbed to 86 per cent in the last four years of the study.

Seventeen patients died while awaiting a transplant. The risk for dying was greatest in the first two weeks after receiving a VAD.

''This study provides important insight into the field of mechanical circulatory support for pediatric patients,'' editorialists Dr David Rosenthal and Dr Daniel Bernstein, from Stanford University in California, said in a statement.

''Using mechanical intervention in more children will pay off in the ability to save the lives of children with advanced heart failure who now die waiting for a suitable donor.'' Reuters SRS RS0937