WOFAPS 2025 8th World Congress of Pediatric Surgery

Xicheng Zhang, Xiangming Fan, Liyang Ying, Qiang Shu

Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, National Children’s Regional Medical Center

Introduction: To summarize and analyze our center's experience with the CORHEART-6 implantable LVAD as bridge-to-transplant therapy in a pediatric patient with end-stage heart failure, providing a reference for ventricular assist device (VAD) treatment in Chinese children with advanced heart failure.

Case presentation: The patient was a 12-year-old boy with chronic heart failure secondary to dilated cardiomyopathy and endocardial fibroelastosis. Preoperative assessment showed NYHA class IV and INTERMACS profile IV. His weight was 32 kg, height 152 cm, body surface area 1.18 m², and LVEF 24.5%. On February 25, 2023, he underwent CORHEART-6 LVAD implantation with tricuspid valvuloplasty under cardiopulmonary bypass, showing good postoperative cardiac recovery. After 20 months of LVAD support, he successfully underwent heart transplantation with a donor/recipient weight ratio of 1.07 and achieved satisfactory recovery.

Conclusion: This case represents China's first successful pediatric implantable LVAD bridge-to-transplant. The CORHEART-6 LVAD demonstrated excellent efficacy as a bridge therapy, suggesting that implantable ventricular assist devices are a viable option for children with end-stage heart failure, whether as bridge-to-transplant, bridge-to-recovery, or destination therapy.