Heartfelt thanks to Royal Children's

Young cardiac patients whose lives were saved thanks to world-class technology gathered at the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) to share their experiences.

Eight children and their families reunited with cardiac surgeons, cardiologists, nurses and allied health staff to say thank you and pay homage to the special artificial heart, known as a ventricular assist device (VAD), that gave them another chance at life.

A VAD is used to replace the function of a failing heart while a patient waits for a heart transplant. The RCH is the only hospital in Australia to offer this technology to children. Since the VAD program was introduced in 2005, the RCH has saved the lives of 10 children with heart failure.

These patients have come from right around the country, including rural Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania.

The youngest patient, 21-month-old Sam Carter, was diagnosed with severe heart failure last year, leaving his heart unable to pump enough blood to maintain his organs. The only option appeared to be a heart transplant.

To keep Sam alive for the unknown amount of time it would take for a donor heart to become available, surgeons implanted a VAD. Sam was the smallest child in Australia to receive an artificial heart.

Miraculously, the VAD allowed Sam's own heart to rest and recover - he made a full recovery, eliminating the need for a transplant. Sam is now a sprightly, healthy little boy.

At the other end of the spectrum is Aaron Habgood, 18. Aaron came to the RCH for surgery to repair a heart valve. During his recovery he suffered a cardiac arrest and surgeons placed him on a VAD as a bridge to heart transplantation.

Aaron's condition improved dramatically while supported by the artificial heart. The portable machine enabled him to go out for dinner with his family and even spend weekends at home in Ocean Grove.

A donor heart eventually became available and Aaron received a transplant. Just six weeks later, he was back playing cricket, surfing and fishing. He is now studying Year 12.

The above story is from the June issue of Health Victoria.