Neurorehabilitation in a Pediatric Stroke Patient Supported on a CentriMag

Patients supported on ventricular assist devices (VADs) benefit from rehabilitation while awaiting heart transplantation to recover from surgery, prevent deconditioning, and, in most cases, optimize transplant candidacy. With bleeding and neurological dysfunction as the most common VAD complications, the importance of rehabilitation dramatically increases when a patient on a VAD also suffers from a neurological injury. The rehabilitation needs for cardiac conditioning and neurological reeducation are not the same. Patients with severe neurological deficits require intense rehabilitation that often includes base-of-support challenges, usage of bolsters and balls, partial weight-bearing treadmill training, and assumption of various body positions in prone, kneeling, or quadruped for neuromotor reeducation. However, some devices are more conducive to rehabilitation than others. For children supported by the CentriMag in particular, rehabilitation is challenged by short cannula tubing, an external motor, a large interface, and an intensive care unit (ICU) admission. We report a safe and successful physical therapy course of a pediatric stroke patient with a diagnosis of Ebstein's anomaly supported by a CentriMag right VAD (RVAD) while awaiting heart transplant in the ICU.