Ventricular Assist Devices
A patient with end-stage heart failure who has been optimized on medication and other therapies, and yet whose condition continues to deteriorate, is a possible candidate for surgical implantation of a ventricular assist device (VAD). A VAD is a mechanical pump that takes over the pumping action of the heart. These patients may be listed for heart transplantation and awaiting the availability of a donor heart or are not candidates for heart transplantation and require a VAD as permanent therapy.
The Center for Heart Failure offers the option of VAD implantation to patients who will benefit from this procedure. There are many types of VADs that can be implanted to support the left and / or right pumping chambers (ventricles) of the heart. The Center for Heart Failure offers the latest in VAD technology and surgical implantation as performed by our internationally renowned cardiac surgeons Patrick McCarthy, MD and Edwin McGee, MD who have tremendous depth and breadth of experience in VAD implantation. Their vast expertise is complemented by a highly trained team of cardiologists, nurses, and ancillary staff who skillfully coordinate in-hospital care and outpatient management. Outpatient VAD management is coordinated through a specialized VAD clinic co-directed by Edwin McGee, MD, Surgical Director, Advanced Heart Failure and William Cotts, MD Medical Director, Advanced Heart Failure. The expertise of our world-renowned team, in a setting dedicated to the care of patients with heart failure, distinguishes our center as being "a front runner" in the management of these seriously ill advanced heart failure patients.
Contact
For more information regarding hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and the treatments available through the Center for Heart Failure, call the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at (866) 662-8467, or request an appointment online.
