Devices

BACKGROUND: Recent data suggest that Berlin Heart EXCOR Pediatric (EXCOR) ventricular assist device improves waiting list survival for pediatric heart transplant candidates. Little is known about their post-transplant outcomes. The aim of this analysis was to determine whether there was a difference in early survival for children bridged to transplant with EXCOR versus status 1A pediatric heart transplant patients not transplanted with ventricular assist device support. METHODS AND RESULTS: Pediatric heart transplant patients (n=106) bridged to transplantation with EXCOR were compared with a similarly aged cohort (n=1021) within the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN) database (both cohorts from May 2007 to December 2010)...