An important study published in The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation in 2018 found that ventricular assist devices (VADs), when used as a bridge to transplant, lessen the severity of illness in children.
The publication, “Post-transplant outcomes in pediatric ventricular assist device patients: A PediMACS-Pediatric Heart Transplant Study linkage analysis,” is a linkage analysis between the PediMACS and Pediatric Heart Transplant Study databases. It uncovered how VADs affect post-transplant outcomes. Importantly, this study found no difference in 1-year post-transplant survival (p = 0.3), freedom from infection (p = 0.9), or freedom from rejection (0.87) between patients with and without VADs. Yet patients without VAD support had greater pre-implant illness severity.
ACTION leaders Betsy Blume, MD of Boston Children’s Hospital, Justin Godown, MD of Monroe Carell Jr Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, & David Sutcliffe, MD and Jodie Lantz, MSN of Children’s Health Dallas / UT Southwestern were key contributors to this study, which has informed our work at ACTION and been referenced in 26 other studies.
CITATION
Sutcliffe DL, Pruitt E, Cantor RS, et al. Post-transplant outcomes in pediatric ventricular assist device patients: A PediMACS-Pediatric Heart Transplant Study linkage analysis. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2018;37(6):715-722. doi:10.1016/j.healun.2017.12.004
