For children with cardiac disease who fail to improve with either medical or surgical therapies, temporary mechanical assistance is the only remaining option while waiting for a suitable heart for transplantation. Fortunately, the Children's Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) offers patients an extraordinarily talented group of specialists skilled in the implantation and management of mechanical assistance devices in children. If heart failure occurs, physicians use a mechanical device to keep these patients alive and well until a suitable heart is available. Patients who have reached end-stage medical therapy and are candidates for cardiac replacement (cardiac transplantation) can get healthier and live improved lives while they wait for their transplant. 
CHAM offers both left and right ventricular support with the Berlin Heart Device, the only such device specifically designed for children and used in the United States. Montefiore's success in providing mechanical assistance is comparable to the best in the nation, including patients who were treated within the first year of life.