Perfusion service

The Perfusion service provides clinical perfusion services to the Cardiothoracic Unit at GOSH. This speciality is only associated with hospitals performing open heart surgery. The service is provided as part of an overall treatment package, and only within GOSH itself.

Perfusionists are responsible for setting up and running heart-lung machines, which are used to support children during open heart surgery.

We also set up and provide support for the ECMO (extra corporeal membrane oxygenation) machine, used to allow a child’s heart and lungs time to rest and recuperate during severe illness, and ventricular devices that may be used to support children with heart or lung problems who need longer term support.

Perfusionists also use and look after other machines including cell savers, blood gas machines, colloid osmotic pressure monitor, thromboelastography, activated clotting time monitor and the intra-aortic balloon pump.

Each year, around 500 patients ranging in age from newly born to 16 years of age receive perfusion services at GOSH. This makes us one of the largest paediatric/neonatal perfusion teams in the country.

The team comprises of eight perfusionists, and we have an active training programme with UK trainees, international visitors and academic activity involving both teaching and research.

A 24-hour on-call service is provided to cover any procedures that are carried out outside normal working hours or in an emergency.

The Perfusion service provides clinical perfusion services to the Cardiothoracic Unit at GOSH which is responsible for all aspects of the diagnosis, management and treatment of heart conditions in infants and adolescents.

The type of heart surgery that is undertaken at GOSH varies enormously from the relatively straightforward, such as an atrial septal defect repair, to the more complex such as hypoplastic left heart surgery.

GOSH also cares for and performs surgery on children with tracheal and airway problems. GOSH is also one of two hospitals performing heart and lung transplants in children in the UK.

Our perfusion department provides the services that enable our surgeons to carry out this complex surgery.

We are one of two referral centres in the UK for paediatric heart/lung transplants and are currently one of the world’s busiest heart/lung transplant centres for paediatrics.

Clinical perfusion is undertaken in the cardiac theatres. We currently have two operating theatres at our disposal.

After surgery, our patients are transferred to our Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU). When ECMO or Berlin heart procedures are involved then our patients will be transferred to either the CICU or the wards.