This article is part of the supplement: Autumn Scientific Meeting of the Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists
Deliberate bridging to transplantation in the paediatric age group: initial UK results
1 The Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne
2 Great Ormond Street Hospital
3 The Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK
Critical Care 2001, 5(Suppl A):7-51 doi:10.1186/cc984
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://ccforum.com/content/5/1/046
| Published: | 4 January 2001 |
© 2000 BioMed Central Ltd on behalf of the copyright holder
Introduction
In the paediatric age group in the UK, there is an excess of donor organs over recipients. There are still deaths while waiting for transplantation. In an effort to extend the survival of children with dilated cardiomyopathy, we have employed a paracorporeal ventricular assist device (Medos HIA Assist, Medos, Stolberg, Germany) in patients who we felt were dying. We report our results here.
Method
We considered children who were admitted to our intensive care units (ICUs) with a diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy of such severity that they were ventilated. If listed for transplantation, they were considered for a mechanical assist device. Our threshold for this was the scenario detailed above, with the addition of incipient renal failure and escalation in the doses of the inotropes being used.
Results
The results are presented in Table 1.
Table 1. Patient characteristics, treatment details, complications and outcomes
Conclusion
A bridge to transplantation is feasible. There are complications and 50% mortality. The criteria for support in this group need to be defined better. The benefit of such a costly programme alongside a transplant programme remains to be established.