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t m c » p u l s e | f e b r u a r y 2 0 1 9 28 A Bridge for Katlyen Texas Children's Hospital is the first in the world to implant the Jarvik 2015 pediatric ventricular assist device as a bridge to transplant F our-year-old Katlyen Hickman has always been special. Even at birth, she defied the odds after she was diagnosed with several critical congenital heart defects, including aortic arch hypoplasia—meaning the vessel leaving the left side of her heart was too small—as well as multiple ventricular septal defects, which required her heart to pump excessively to push blood through her body. Despite numerous heart surgeries and cardiac catheteriza- tions in her first few years of life, though, her heart was failing fast. "It was clear she was moving in the direction of needing heart transplantation," said Iki Adachi, M.D., a congenital heart surgeon at Texas Children's Hospital. "She was admitted to the ICU and her heart condition was just getting worse and worse." Adachi and his team were determined to give the spunky young patient the best chance for a long life. So, on Oct. 2, 2018, they implanted the Jarvik 2015 ventric- ular assist device (VAD) into her chest, confident that it would keep her alive as she waited for a new heart. It did—and it also put her name in the history books. Hickman was the first patient in the United States, and only the second in the world, to receive the new device. AA battery Ventricular assist devices can be used in pediatric patients who are in need of a heart transplant as a means of sustaining them until they are matched with a new organ—a bridge to transplant. In B y A l e x a n d r a B e c k e r Above: Katlyen Hickman enjoys lunch at Texas Children's Hospital with congenital heart surgeon Iki Adachi, M.D. Facing page: The Jarvik 2015 pediatric ventricular assist device is the size of a AA battery. The Future of Heart Health