University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview is a national leader in extending the lives of those whose hearts simply can't do the job any more. It's a reputation earned, in part, through research and patient experience. Ventricular-assist devices (VADs), small pumps that take over the work of the failing heart, have been used at the medical center since 1995. The VAD program is the second busiest in the nation.
"For some, the device does the job until the patient gets a heart transplant; in other words, it provides a ‘bridge to transplant.' For others, a heart transplant isn't a possibility, and the pump is permanent; that's called ‘destination therapy,'" says Kenneth Liao, M.D., cardio-vascular and thoracic surgeon. The medical center is one of only 70 Medicare-approved facilities in the nation for destination therapy.
Since 1995, medical center teams have implanted 261 VADs, 30 of those for destination therapy. The device is connected in parallel to the pumping chamber of the heart and implanted in the upper part of the abdominal wall. A cable connects it to a small battery pack and controller device outside the body.
Our survival rate for non-emergency cases with newer VADs is 96 percent, and patients' quality of life improves dramatically. "That 96 percent result isn't reproduced anywhere in the country or, for that matter, the world," says Ranjit John, M.D., cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon.
Lyle Joyce M.D., Ph.D., director of the Ventricular Assist Device program has reported a 68 percent survival rate in emergency use of such devices in patients who have had cardiac arrests outside the hospital and are unconscious, on ventilators, and severe shock (all of whom died before the use of such devices).
Andrew Boyle, M.D., cardiologist, says the medical center leads efforts nationwide to implant newer devices and is central to discussions on the use of VADs for more patients than just those who are critically ill. University of Minnesota and medical center researchers have also significantly contributed to VAD clinical trials nationally, and Joyce expects us to remain in the forefront of new VAD technology.
To refer a patient to the Cardiovascular Center or to learn more about the Ventricular Assist Device program at University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, call 612-625-3600.
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