Longest support time with the EXCOR® Pediatric ventricular assist device

Six year old Lara from Erlangen is the toddler with the longest support time of a ventricular assist device (VAD) in the world.
The small patient was treated an entire 877 days with the VAD EXCOR® Pediatric in the University Hospital in Erlangen and, thanks to this therapy, could recover so well that she was now able to receive a new heart a few days ago.

In February 2010 Lara was in an emergency operation by Prof. Dr. Robert Cesnjevar, head of children's heart surgery at the University Hospital in Erlangen, who implanted the ventricular assist device especially for children, the EXCOR® Pediatric. With this method, the time which remained waiting for a donor heart could be bridged. At the same time Lara’s body could recover again so well that she was healthy enough for the transplantation.
When Lara was brought to the University Hospital in Erlangen she was in such poor physical condition that she had to be operated on immediately. The young girl had already been suffering from a heart malformation since birth. Just before the implantation of the ventricular assist device, her condition deteriorated to such a degree that there was no other possibility to save her life. So the ventricular assist device EXCOR® Pediatric was then implanted.

The then three-year-old survived the surgery very well and shortly afterward could be placed in a normal ward.
The so-called artificial heart could thereby provide the vital maintenance of the heart function. With the help of this circulatory support, Lara could recover and grow until a donor heart arrived.

Since then she has lived for almost two-and-a-half years in the pediatric cardiological ward of the hospital. During this time Lara could “more than recover from the underdevelopment due to her congenital heart defect and has survived her long hospital stay in surprisingly good health”, says Dr. Sven Dittrich, head of pediatric cardiology in Erlangen. Her parents alternated in caring for Lara; her father worked during the week while Lara’s mother was with her, and so Lara’s father and grandmother took over the care on the weekend. Thus the little one was always surrounded by friends and family. With her happy and alert manner she made a lot of friends in the ward and generated a good mood everywhere.

Lara could even learn to ride a bicycle on the ward. And with the help of her parents and doctors, short outings into the area surrounding the hospital were possible.

Thanks to the EXCOR® Pediatric System Lara was strong and sound enough to survive this serious surgery. Now she is already on the old station and will shortly be released for rehabilitation measures in order to be able to enter a kindergarden as soon as possible after that. Next year Lara should then start school. And she is already very well equipped for it: she could already take part in school lessons in the hospital.

About Berlin Heart
Berlin Heart GmbH is the only company worldwide that develops, produces, and distributes implantable
and external ventricular assist devices for patients of every age and body size. The devices INCOR®,
EXCOR® Adult and EXCOR® Pediatric can support failing hearts short-, mid- and long-term and therefore offer a life-saving therapy. Customers moreover benefit from clinical and technical support by Berlin Heart VAD specialists who are available 7-24. INCOR® and EXCOR® Adult are not FDA-approved, but widely used in Europe. The company is the market leader in Germany and Europe.

About EXCOR®
EXCOR® is a para-corporeal ventricular assist device for patients of all age groups, from newborns to adults. It is used for short-, mid- and long-term cardiac support and can support failing hearts for any duration from a couple of days to several months and years. Since the first implantation in 1988 EXCOR® has been implanted in more than 3.000 patients worldwide.

The Berlin Heart EXCOR® Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device (EXCOR® Pediatric) is approved for use by the FDA under a Humanitarian Device Exemption. All other products are not available in the US.

Berlin Heart GmbH
Katharina Schubert
Marketing & PR
Wiesenweg 10
12247 Berlin
schubert@berlinheart.de

This release was published on openPR.