TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Ventricular Assist Devices in Children A1 - Nelson, Kristen A1 - Vricella, Luca A. A2 - Yuh, David D. A2 - Vricella, Luca A. A2 - Yang, Stephen C. A2 - Doty, John R. PY - 2014 T2 - Johns Hopkins Textbook of Cardiothoracic Surgery AB - The parallel growth of pediatric cardiac surgery and ventricular assist device (VAD) technology has led to the development of mechanical support specifically tailored to the management of pediatric heart failure. Pediatric VADs are used for heart failure refractory to conventional medical therapy and act as bridges most often to transplantation, but may also act as a bridge to recovery. Each one of the numerous devices currently available has specific advantages, but device selection must be individualized to the patient’s particular anatomy and clinical circumstances. A large NIH trial is currently ongoing to further develop continuous flow VADs for the smaller pediatric population, due to the promising results seen in adult continuous flow device studies. Anticoagulation and infection prophylaxis remain major concerns in the management of pediatric patients undergoing VAD placement, but protocolized management will allow us to further study the complex interactions between inflammation, immunity and use of VADs in the pediatric population. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/29 UR - accesssurgery.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1104599463 ER -