EXCOR^® Pediatric is a paracorporeal, pulsatile ventricular assist device, or VAD for short. Paracorporeal means that the actual blood pumps are located outside of the body, and are connected to the heart and blood vessels via cannulas. EXCOR^® Pediatric can be used to support one ventricle (left-sided / LVAD) or both ventricles (bilateral / BVAD).

The EXCOR^® device has small pumps that can be used to support the left or right or both sides of the patient’s heart. The pump or pumps is/are connected to tubes (cannulas) that are sewn onto the heart. A machine outside of the patient’s body is used to make the pumps move the blood through the heart. This may help improve the blood flow to the patient’s body.

EXCOR^® Pediatric has been specially developed for children, infants and even babies. This has been made possible by the wide variety of blood pumps and cannulae.

The EXCOR^® Pediatric VAD has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The system is used successfully as short, medium and long-term cardiac support. EXCOR^® is often used as a bridge until heart transplantation is performed or the heart has recovered. Since its first use in 1990, more than 2,000 young patients have been supported with the EXCOR^® Pediatric device.