Ventricular Assist Device Helps Cardiac Patients Awaiting Heart Transplant
In April 2014, Memorial Healthcare System was given UNOS approval to perform adult heart transplants.
Part of the reason why they received this approval is because Memorial had an established ventricular assist device program that helps patients live with a mechanical heart while they wait for a transplant.
A ventricular assist device, is a mechanical pump that is surgically placed inside the heart to keep blood flowing from the heart to the body, supplying blood to the vital organs, said Enrique Gongora, MD, Medical Director of the Adult Cardiac Surgical Transplant
Program at Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute (MCVI). The LVAD program and the heart transplant program are helping patients live life while waiting for a real heart.