From Diagnosis and Beyond: Arkansas Children’s Heart Institute’s Bridge-to-Transplant Program

The Arkansas Children's Heart Institute houses one of the busiest pediatric heart transplant programs in North America, having evaluated nearly 500 patients and performed more than 370 heart transplants. However, the program's focus extends far beyond transplant surgery.

Because donor organs can take days to years to become available, the Arkansas Children’s Heart Institute has a bridge-to-transplant program that allows a multidisciplinary team of clinicians — cardiologists, surgeons, cardiac intensive care specialists, nurse practitioners, nurses and pharmacists — to extend the health of a child’s native heart as long as possible.

Easing the Transition from Diagnosis to Transplant

The bridge-to-transplant program begins when the program’s physicians determine a patient qualifies for transplant.

"Once patients are listed, our job is to keep them as healthy as possible until we're informed a donor organ is available," said Sherry Pye, D.N.P., A.P.R.N., C.C.R.N., C.C.T.C., nurse practitioner in the transplant service and transplant coordinator at the Arkansas Children's Heart Institute. "That can be from overnight to months or years. Our team commits to ensuring our patients have what they need. We see and talk to them daily, have three people on call at all times, and are on stand-by for patients waiting for organs."

VADs at Arkansas Children’s Heart Institute

Arkansas Children’s Heart Institute was an early adopter of ventricular assist devices (VADs), which, after extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), are the next level of support for children awaiting a transplant.

“VADs are better than ECMO long-term as they are not as hard on the body’s organ system,” said Eudice Fontenot, M.D., pediatric cardiologist at Arkansas Children’s Heart Institute and professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Cardiology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. “We have bridged children for more than six months using VAD, something we could never do with ECMO.”

Arkansas Children’s Heart Institute has extensive experience with many types of VADs with placement of more than 65 VADs, including the HeartMate 3™, SynCardia and Berlin Heart®.

The Arkansas Children’s Heart Institute’s bridge-to-transplant program offers patients a better quality of life while waiting for a new heart.