title: Neonatal mechanical bridging to total orthotopic heart transplantation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Until recently, newborns with medically intractable cardiac failure caused by congenital malformations were mostly doomed to death because of the severity of the disease, which precludes a palliative operation, or because of fatal deterioration before availability of a suitable donor heart.
  
  
  METHODS
  The recently developed paracorporeal pneumatically driven Medos HIA ventricular assist device offers a therapeutic option for these small infants because it is manufactured in various sizes and is even suitable for cardiac assistance in neonates with a body surface area less than 0.3 m2.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We report our initial experience with this device, which we used for univentricular bridging to total orthotopic cardiac transplantation in 3 infants. The device was inserted to support the left ventricle in two instances and to support the right heart in one. Successful bridging to transplantation was achieved in 2 infants for periods of 2 and 7 weeks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our experience demonstrates the feasibility of univentricular mechanical support followed by successful cardiac transplantation in infants and newborns.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Westfalian Wilhelms University, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weyand
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kececioglu
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Kehl
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Loick
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vogt
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Scheld
mesh_terms: D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000151:congenital; D004437:Ebstein Anomaly / Q000601:surgery; D004695:Endocardial Fibroelastosis / Q000601:surgery; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D013997:Time Factors