„Without your product as a bridge to transplant, our son would no longer be with us. Thank you, thank you, thank you!“

These sincere thanks were expressed by Angel and Gary Thornton, parents of the 4-year-old Ben, a former EXCOR® Pediatric patient from the US. Ben had been supported for almost two months at the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital / Stanford University Hospital with an EXCOR® Pediatric LVAD.

Ben had been suffering from restrictive cardiomyopathy. A day after his admission to the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital, Ben’s condition took a dramatic turn for the worse: Ben went into acute tachycardia. His doctors had to resuscitate him for 60 minutes before he could be attached to an ECMO.

In order to bridge the time until a donor heart would become available, doctors decided to support Ben with an EXCOR® Pediatric system. After a week on the ECMO he received an EXCOR® Pediatric LVAD with 30ml pump volume, 9mm atrial inflow cannula, and 9mm outflow cannula.

Ben was supported for 58 days with the EXCOR® Pediatric, until a donor heart became available and he received a heart transplantation.

Ben has meanwhile been discharged from the hospital and has returned home to his parents and his little sister. He has resumed his normal life and is enjoying his favourite pastime: playing the drums.