Highest Heart Failure Survival in the Nation
The overall goal in treating patients with heart failure at Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute is to provide focused care while in the hospital and equip patients with a comprehensive plan to help manage their own medical needs when at home. With this goal in mind and through open communication with our patients and referring physicians, we are proud to have achieved the highest heart failure survival in the nation.
“Our program emphasizes the team approach to help patients with heart failure regain their health and provide them with the information they need to maintain their health and quality of life. We treat the relationship we have with our patients as a partnership and strive to give understandable, straightforward answers,” says Allen S. Anderson, MD. |
Surgical Options For Advanced Heart Failure
Patients with advanced heart failure may benefit from ventricular assist devices (VADs) at various stages throughout their disease progression. VADs are primarily used as either a bridge to heart transplant to keep patients alive while they wait to receive a donor heart or as destination therapy to provide a permanent alternative in patients who are not heart transplantation candidates.
“We have programs in place to treat both acute and chronic heart failure patients. Temporary support devices are one of the options used to stabilize patients in an acute state of heart failure, while VAD and heart transplant address long term needs,” says Duc Thinh Pham, MD. "Pioneering the latest technology at Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute enables us to have multiple treatment options for all our patients with heart failure." |
Patient Experience: Rebekah Harper
Patient Experience: Rebekah Harper
Rebekah Harper, 32, was eight months old when she was diagnosed with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy--a weakened and enlarged heart--in her case caused by a viral infection. Her condition was stable until 2000 when she developed heart failure caused by her cardiomyopathy and required her first heart transplantation. Years later, due to complications Rebekah required a second heart transplantation that she received at Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute.
“Finding a second heart for patients like Rebekah is like finding a needle in a haystack because of all the antibodies in their system from the first transplant," says Allen S. Anderson, MD. "Our robust, advanced heart failure program is uniquely designed to treat high acuity cases like Rebekah’s that require intense resources to meet their complicated needs." |
CardioMEMS: Remote MonitoringIn the United States, every 30 seconds someone is hospitalized for heart failure. In addition to being a strain on the healthcare system, each patient hospitalization leads to worsening progression of the disease. CardioMEMS is a small, pressure-sensing device that monitors the blood pressure in the pulmonary artery. When this pressure is elevated, it can be an indication of worsening heart failure.
The CardioMEMS device is placed in the pulmonary artery during a minimally invasive procedure, allowing patients to take daily pulmonary artery pressure readings at home and wirelessly transmit the reading to their physician. “With over one million heart failure hospitalizations each year, this remote monitoring device offered at Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute allows adjustment of medication without the need for a clinic visit and hospitalization can be prevented," says Allen S. Anderson, MD. |
Pulmonary Hypertension:
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Patient Outcomes: Heart FailureAt Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, we evaluate our clinical outcomes so that we can fully understand how our treatments and procedures benefit our patients. We regularly review and evaluate our clinical outcomes and based on the results, develop methods to monitor and improve the health care we offer to our heart and vascular patients.
Please see below for our four heart failure measures. |
Lower 30-Day Unplanned Re-Hospitalization Rate for Heart Failure Patients as Compared to Top 10 Heart Hospitals* |
Consistently the Lowest Risk-Adjusted* 30-Day Heart Failure Mortality Rate In the Nation** |
September 2016-August 2017Source: University Health Consortium (UHC)
*In this case lower is better. |
July 2012 - June 2016Source: Hospital Compare
*Risk adjustment allows for a more accurate comparison by accounting for individual patient factors present prior to hospitalization such as age, severity of illness and other medical problems that can put certain patients at greater risk of complications or death than others. **Includes all hospitals that report data to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In this case lower is better. |
Better Short-Term and Long-Term Survival Rates for Isolated Heart Transplant Patients as Compared to National Average |
Better Survival Rate for Bridge-to-Transplant* Ventricular Assist Device Patients as Compared to National Average |
January 2005 – June 2017 |
January 2005 – June 2017 |
Source: Data based on NMH Kaplan-Meier survival curve as of June 30, 2017. Includes re-transplants and multi-organ transplants. (J Heart Lung Transplant 2012 Oct; 31 (10): 1045-1095).
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Source: Data based on NMH Kaplan-Meier survival curve as of June 30, 2017. Includes continuous flow pumps.
*Bridge-to-transplant VAD helps preserve heart function for patients who are awaiting a heart transplant. |
Survival Rate for Destination Therapy* Ventricular Assist Device Patients Comparable to National AverageJanuary 2005 – June 2017Source: Data based on NMH Kaplan-Meier survival curve as of June 30, 2017. Includes continuous flow pumps.
*Destination Therapy VAD offers permanent mechanical cardiac support to heart failure patients who are not candidates for a heart transplant. |
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