Berlin Heart Offers Hope

A Mechanical Heart Designed Specifically for Children

Seattle Children’s is one of the original 10 centers in North America chosen to take part in a national Food and Drug Administration (FDA) trial testing the Berlin Heart, a mechanical heart designed for children in heart failure awaiting a heart transplant.

The Berlin Heart, produced in Germany, is a ventricular assist device (VAD). It is similar to adult VADs but is small enough to fit in your hand and is designed for use in children. The Berlin Heart sits outside the body and is connected to tubes that are connected directly to the heart. It is controlled by a computer and takes over the job of pumping blood so the heart can rest while waiting for a donor heart.

Until now, the only option for children under 5 years of age with heart failure was extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a temporary form of mechanical support of heart and lung function. ECMO requires that the child be sedated and paralyzed with medicine in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Children with the Berlin Heart can wake up and leave the ICU — they can go to the playroom and even attend school in the hospital.

“The Berlin Heart allows us to buy more time to keep these children alive and bridge them to transplant with a higher quality of life,” says Dr. Gordon Cohen, chief of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery and co-director of Children’s Heart Center.

Since February 2006, three patients have received the Berlin Heart at Seattle Children’s and went on to have successful heart transplants.

If approved by the FDA, the Berlin Heart would be the first VAD approved specifically for use in children.