An Alternative Treatment Strategy for Pump Thrombus in the DeBakey VAD Child: Use of Clopidogrel as a Thrombolytic Agent

Our institution has used the DeBakey VAD Child as a bridge to heart transplantation in select pediatric patients. Pump thrombus is a potentially serious complication with few available treatment options. Only surgical device exchange or the use of tissue plasminogen activator are reported in the literature. We report the use of clopidogrel as an alternative thrombolytic agent in the presence of pump thrombus in an adolescent patient with a DeBakey VAD Child heart pump.