The interventional cardiology team at Nicklaus Children's has been performing closures of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) on tiny premature infants weighing as little as two pounds. The Heart Institute has successfully performed transcatheter PDA closures in infants weighing as little as 900 grams.
The Heart Institute now offers the recently FDA-approved Amplatzer Piccolo™ Occluder to close PDAs in very premature babies in the Cath Lab. This self-expanding, wire mesh device is designed specifically to fit within the PDA of very low weight preemies (as small as 600-700 grams at the time of the procedure) with little risk of interference with adjacent structures.
Ideal candidates are extremely premature infants with a persistent requirement for respiratory support that could be exacerbated by a significant PDA.
About the Heart Institute
The Heart Institute at Nicklaus Children's is a world leader in pediatric cardiology and cardiovascular surgery and the care of children with congenital heart disorders. The program offers the most innovative, least invasive approaches in pediatric cardiology and cardiovascular surgery to the treatment of congenital heart disease, including many first-in-the-world procedures that were pioneered right here by the Heart Institute's own internationally renowned pediatric cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons. The Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) at Nicklaus Children's is one of the few pediatric CICUs in the nation and the first dedicated pediatric cardiac unit in the Southeast.