Penn Cardiac Care doctors offer hope to patients with end-stage heart failure
Heart failure, the leading cause of hospital admissions in the country, is
a condition, which poses a serious threat to a patients’ quality
of life and their life expectancy. 400,000 new patients are diagnosed
with heart failure each year and as the population continues to age,
more cases of heart failure, particularly chronic heart failure, are
expected, increasing the burden on an already limited heart transplant
donor list.
Mariell
L. Jessup, MD, medical director of the Heart
Failure and Transplantation Program at the Hospital
of the University of Pennsylvania, notes, "We are a huge program
and though we performed more heart transplants in 2003
than any other hospital in the region and are recognized
among the top five heart transplant programs in the
country, we are much more proud of the fact that we
can help many patients avoid transplant."
Steady improvements
in artificial cardiac support technology such as
ventricular assist devices (VADs) have enabled patients
with end-stage
heart failure to remain at home for more than a year
until a heart becomes available. Unfortunately, there
are not enough donor hearts available to meet the
demand and in some cases, a match may not occur.
Fortunately,
recent studies showed that the quality of life
and survival rates of patients not eligible for transplantation
were significantly improved at one and two years
with
VADs in comparison to medical therapy alone. As
a result the Federal Drug Administration is considering
that
these VADs be approved for patients with end-stage
heart failure.
Rohinton
J. Morris, MD, a Penn Cardiac Care surgeon
states, "We are proud to offer
a full array of treatment options and new hope to patients
suffering from end-stage heart failure, severe mitral
valve insufficiency or a major heart attack." LVADs
(left ventricular assist devices) enable patients to
regain their independence and resume their lifestyles
and often eliminate the need for lifelong medication.
Our patients are more comfortable and enjoy the opportunity
to spend more time with their family and friends in
the comfort of their own home."
Penn Cardiac Care offers:
-
VADs: These devices are implanted inside the body
and help the heart function to pump blood throughout
the body; patients are able to take low-level blood
thinners with aspirin
-
Heart jacket: This mesh-like jacket is sewn around
the patient's heart. As the heart loses its ability
to function, it has to work harder to pump blood
throughout the body, and as a result, grows larger.
This jacket
inhibits the growth in size, easing the heart's
workload.
The Penn Cardiac Care Heart
Failure and Heart Transplantation Program provides patients access to a multidisciplinary
team of experts, including surgeons, cardiologists,
nurses, transplant and VAD coordinators, social workers,
cardiac rehabilitation specialists and even a financial
counselor. Each member of our staff is highly skilled
in utilizing the most advanced technology and medical
management approaches to treat patients with heart
failure.
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