The Berlin Heart EXCOR Active can dramatically improve a patient and family’s quality of life, according to Dr. Jennifer Conway. (File photo: LNN)

By Sarah Jones

Health

New technology in Edmonton allows children awaiting a heart transplant more independence

Dec 9, 2022 | 6:09 PM

EDMONTON, AB – The Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton is the first in North America to begin using a new device that will help youth awaiting a heart transplant.

A lighter, more mobile driving unit for a ventricular assist device (VAD) is giving two children a whole new world of opportunities.

The VAD is typically used on patients whose hearts are unable to pump enough blood. The surgically-implanted pump connects tubes to the heart and uses a control system and power source to push blood through the entire body.

As for children weighing less than 25 kilograms, the only option for a VAD was a large and heavy machine with limited battery life.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) explained in a release that patients could only be away from a power source for 20 to 30 minutes at a time, limiting what options they had within the hospital.

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Although the new device, the Berlin Heart EXCOR Active, is offering more mobility, as patients can leave a power source for up to 10 to 12 hours of battery life.

This allows for children to take longer trips outside of the hospital, and according to one doctor, could potentially be the first step in discharging patients home while awaiting a transplant.

Pediatric cardiologist Dr. Jennifer Conway, Director of the Stollery Heart Function and Cardiomyopathy Program said, “Unfortunately, our wait times for heart transplant in Canada are quite long, so even our highest-priority transplant patients can wait six months, a year or longer in hospital.”

“This new VAD driver can dramatically improve the patient and family’s quality of life while waiting in hospital during that time,” she added.

The Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) Program is supported by both the Stollery and Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute and received special approval from Health Canada as the Berlin Heart EXCOR Active is not widely approved in Canada.

According to AHS, “It is one of the largest VAD programs in North America and has been at the forefront of mechanical circulatory assist device treatment since 2005, when the program became the first pediatric site in Western Canada to implant a Berlin Heart left VAD.”

Greyson Eackett, a three-year-old boy who has been at Stollery for over eight months, has just recently started using the new VAD Driver.

His father, Roy Eackett, described the opportunity as unbelievable.

“The ability to get him out, get him exercising, building muscle, becoming stronger, really increases our chances for a quick recovery once we do get the gift of transplant,” explained Roy.

He went on, “It’s no longer the limitations of the machine holding him back. It’s just his physical limitations and now we can work on decreasing those limitations. It makes me feel really good.”

Watch the Eackett’s story on Alberta Health Services Youtube.