New technology has enabled many heart failure patients to live and thrive with the help of ventricular assist devices, or VADs. Boston Children’s physicians and nurses have played a leading role in the research and regulatory issues surrounding pediatric VAD use in the United States. These devices give blood circulation a boost and can serve as a life-saving bridge to transplant. Boston Children’s cardiologists were integral in designing and conducting the multi-institutional study of the Berlin Heart®, which gained FDA approval for use in children in 2011. Boston Children’s continues to expand the field of VAD support in children by introducing new devices such as the HeartWare® HVAD, which allows children to be discharged home and to resume activities of life.
A Boston Children’s patient was one of the first children in North America to go back to school with a VAD as she waited for a heart transplant. And in the fall of 2014, one of our patients attended college while living on campus with a VAD.
