Baylor Scott & White Research Institute was recently selected as one of only seven sites in the nation to participate in the landmark feasibility study of the Carmat Total Artificial Heart (TAH) for transplant-eligible patients in severe, end-stage heart failure. It is also the only site to offer the FDA-approved TAH in the region.
Traditionally, one of the clinical hallmarks characterizing heart failure has been a low ejection fraction (EF) of the left ventricle. EF is the percent of blood pushed out by the heart with each heartbeat. But there is a growing awareness of a significant portion of the heart failure population who do not display low EF— a condition known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).
As advances in heart failure treatment continue, Baylor University Medical Center remains at the forefront and is still one of the largest programs in Texas. In 2018, surgeons on the medical staff performed 54 heart transplants and implanted a record 78 LVADs (left ventricular assist device). Dan M. Meyer, MD, recently appointed surgical chief of heart transplant and mechanical circulatory support at Baylor Dallas, implanted the first LVAD at Baylor in 1996, and recently implanted the 500th LVAD, making BUMC the first hospital in North Texas to reach this milestone.
Despite the many advances in clinical care for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction (MI) and heart failure (HF), cardiogenic shock (CS) survival remains unchanged at 40%. For MI patients alone, the 30-day mortality rate is 40-50%, and it has remained at this level for the last two decades.
