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To treat 16-year-old Bowie resident Miles Davis' heart failure, doctors tried traditional drugs to help his weakened heart pump blood, but quickly learned his heart failure was so aggressive he would need a stronger treatment.

"Very early on, we figured out that we were up against an aggressive and rapidly progressing disease," said Dr. George Ruiz, who specializes in structural heart problems and divides his time between Washington Hospital Center and Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. "This horse was galloping along at a very fast pace, so we needed a motorcycle or a car to keep up."

The otherwise healthy teen's heart failed in March for an unknown reason. Ruiz said this is a frustrating but common occurrence in heart-failure patients of all ages.

Common causes of heart failure in youths include inflammation stemming from a viral infection, congenital heart defects and other genetic causes, Ruiz said.

"Sometimes, you show up at the crime scene, and the perpetrator's there, angry and holding a gun," Ruiz said. "In Miles' case, we were left with only a crime scene. We had some suspects, but the culprits had all fled the scene."

By the summer, doctors talked about surgery to implant a left ventricular assist device, a battery-operated mechanical pump that helps the heart pump blood.

The device is often used to help a patient's heart pump while the patient awaits a heart transplant, Ruiz said. In Miles' case, doctors hope the device will give his heart time to rest and regain strength so it can eventually pump blood on its own. He is also taking Clenbuterol, a drug commonly used for asthma.

Dr. Leslie Miller, chairman of cardiology at Washington Hospital Center, is leading an investigation of the drug's use in strengthening heart muscle. The hospital had to seek special approval from the Food and Drug Administration for Miles to take the drug, doctors said.

Miles made the decision to pursue this course of treatment.

"They told me I could either [pursue this course of treatment] or spend the rest of my life in the hospital," he said.

Fewer than 0.57 in 100,000 children younger than 18 per year experience dilated cardiomyopathy, a heart condition tied closely to heart failure, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In the majority of cases studied, the reason for the heart failure was unknown.  

Ruiz said it's still possible Miles could need a transplant down the road.

Ventricular assist devices can last several years, Ruiz said, enough time to determine if Miles' heart will be able to function on its own again.

"It would be miraculous and great if we could get his heart to work on its own again," Ruiz said. "No matter what, the goal here is to give him a functional, full life that's as close as possible to what his life would be like if this never happened to him."