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In December, OSF Children’s Hospital of Illinois announced surgeons had successfully performed the world’s first implantation of an extravascular implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (EV-ICD) in a 2-year-old child who had suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. This innovative device, developed by Medtronic, had previously only been used in adults or much older teenagers.

Sunita Ferns, M.D., director of Pediatric and Adult Congenital Electrophysiology, diagnosed the patient with Brugada syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes heart arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. Ferns assembled the team of specialists to try the EV-ICD on the young patient. “We needed buy-in to trial a new device for the first time ever in a patient his size from the surgeons and good technical support.”

Harma Turbendian, M.D., the primary surgeon, led the minimally invasive procedure. “They’re fairly small incisions that are required for implantation of the device,” Turbendian said. “You actually don’t have to access the heart in order to place this thing.” This approach eliminates the need for open-heart surgery, making it a safer and less invasive option for young patients.

Ferns said their work will soon be published to guide other medical centers worldwide. Mark Plunkett, M.D., the chief of Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery, described the EV-ICD as a “game changer” that will revolutionize pediatric cardiac care. “Its design initially was for adults or adult-sized patients. The fact we've proven it to be effective and safely implantable in a child this size really expands its application immensely."