Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 13, 2026

Implantation of Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) in Juvenile Landrace Swine: A LVAD Implantation Model of Pediatric Heart Failure
05:18

Implantation of Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) in Juvenile Landrace Swine: A LVAD Implantation Model of Pediatric Heart Failure

Published on: January 16, 2026

Infectious complications and outcomes in children supported with left ventricular assist devices

Antonio G Cabrera1, Muhammad S Khan, David L S Morales

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Section of Pediatric Cardiology, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. agcabrer@texaschildrenshospital.org

The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation : the Official Publication of the International Society for Heart Transplantation
|March 16, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Infectious complications are frequent in pediatric patients with ventricular assist devices (VADs), with continuous-flow VADs and prior transplant rejection being risk factors. However, these infections do not preclude successful cardiac transplantation in children.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Cardiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Medical Devices

Background:

  • Infectious complications are a leading cause of death in adult VAD patients.
  • Data on infection incidence and outcomes in pediatric VAD recipients is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the incidence of infection in pediatric VAD recipients.
  • To characterize VAD infection microbiology, risk factors, and outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective record review of pediatric VAD patients (≥2 weeks support) from 1999-2011.
  • Infection categorization using ISHLT definitions (VAD-specific, VAD-related, non-VAD-related).

Main Results:

  • 69% of pediatric VAD patients experienced 92 infections.
  • Overall VAD infection rate: 8/1,000 VAD support days.
  • Common pathogens: S. aureus, CoNS, P. aeruginosa, Candida spp.; 37.5% of VAD support deaths were infection-related.
  • Continuous-flow VADs and prior transplant rejection were significant risk factors for VAD infections.

Conclusions:

  • Infectious complications are common in pediatric VAD recipients.
  • VAD infections do not prevent successful pediatric cardiac transplantation.
Abstract

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