Heart Failure and Referral
for Cardiac Transplantation
Penn Cardiac Care physicians at Penn Presbyterian
screen, diagnose and manage patients with congestive
heart failure and cardiomyopathy. Since 1987,
the multidisciplinary staff at the Penn Transplant
Center has performed over 480 heart transplants.
Our multidisciplinary team, available 24 hours
a day, includes some of the nation's finest cardiologists,
cardiothoracic and transplant surgeons, as well
as specialists in cardiac imaging, electrophysiology,
cardiac anesthesia, pulmonary medicine, infectious
disease, immunology and rehabilitation medicine,
all dedicated to the management and care of patients
with severe cardiomyopathy. Our specialized cardiac
inpatient units include a cardiac intermediate
care unit, a medical cardiology unit, a cardiothoracic
surgical intensive care unit and an ambulatory
procedure unit.
Our physicians provide comprehensive, compassionate
care to patients with end-stage heart failure,
and offer more options for therapy than ever before,
including:
- HeartMate®, implantable left ventricular assist
device (LVAD)
- Thoratec® VAD System
- Left ventricular reduction and cardiac remodeling
- Mitral valve repair
- Arrow LionHeart™, fully implantable LVAD
The HeartMate is a revolutionary technology available
only at select cardiovascular centers in the United
States and Europe. The vented electrical option
allows some transplant candidates to wait for
their transplant at home, instead of the hospital.
Patients have been maintained with the HeartMate
for up to three years before transplantation.
Our Program was the first in the Delaware Valley
to send a patient home with this device.
Penn Cardiac Care is one of the few centers in
the region participating in the study of the LionHeart,
an LVAD implanted completely inside the body,
which allows patients to be disconnected from
the device's energy source for at least part of
the day. The size of this device is fairly large,
so some patients, particularly small women and
children, may not be suitable candidates for it.
A new category of small mechanical devices is
being developed with an axial flow pump, a high-speed
propeller that draws the blood out of the heart
and propels it in a "pulse-less" fashion
throughout the body, up to 10 liters a minute.
We expect a permanently implanted ventricular
assist device to be available at Penn in the near
future, which offers hope to patients with intractable
heart failure, who are not transplant candidates.
Patients in need of a heart transplant are referred
to the Penn
Transplant Center.
Heart Failure / Transplant (Non-surgical):
Brian
M. Drachman, MD
Ross
R. Zimmer, MD
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