Pediatric ventricular assist devices

End stage heart failure is a growing problem in the pediatric population. These patients are conventionally managed with a combination of oral and intravenous medications. When these fail, mechanical circulatory support is indicated. Improvements in technology have made options for mechanical circulatory support available to infants and children. These devices may be indicated as a bridge to recovery of the native heart function, or, more commonly as a bridge to transplant. Particularly in small patients, extracorporeal life support (ECMO) has been historically used for this purpose. In some cases, adult ventricular assist devices have been used in older children. At the current time, there are devices in clinical use or being developed that will further improve the care and outcomes of these patients. In this article, the indications, implementation, and results of pediatric ventricular assist devices are presented.