Patients with complex congenital heart defects, many of whom were formerly sent out of state for treatment, make up a significant portion of our recent growth. (Annual clinical volume has increased 4.5 percent, as has the complexity of illness.) Our dedicated pediatric cardiac intensive care unit was expanded from 12 to 18 beds, and an expansion at the Childrens Hospital, further developing the cardiac surgery space, is underway.
The Vanderbilt Childrens heart failure and mechanical ventricular assist device (VAD) program expanded in 2010 to include the first Berlin Heart implantation in Tennessee, as well as paracorporeal VAD device placement in larger individuals. This brings our pediatric heart transplant and VAD program into further national prominence.