Heart Failure Surgery

Patients with heart failure usually develop symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue, and swelling.  If left untreated, the symptoms may worsen, and, as less blood flow reaches the other organs of the body, multi-organ failure may ensue.  Affecting over 5 million people in the United States, with greater than 500,000 new patients being diagnosed each year, heart failure, unfortunately for many Americans, is the most common cause of death in this country.

At Tufts Medical Center, a multi-disciplinary team of cardiac surgeons, cardiologists, and other medical staff specializing in heart failure form the nationally-recognized Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Center.  Through a collaborative and integrative approach, our patients have access to the latest in diagnostic technologies (see Cardiac Imaging and Hemodynamics Laboratory, Cardiac Nuclear Imaging, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory) and are treated with the most advanced therapeutic modalities.

Depending on the cause and severity of a patient’s heart failure, the treatment may be medical therapy, surgical therapy, or both.  The exact and best treatment plan is decided upon through the collaboration of the Heart Failure Surgeons, Heart Failure Cardiologists, and the patient and his/her family.  Should surgical therapy be an option in a patient’s treatment, our specially-trained surgeons offer the latest techniques in Conventional Surgery for Heart Failure, Mechanical Assistance, and Heart Transplantation.

Conventional Surgery for Heart Failure

Since the most common cause of heart failure is ischemic cardiomyopathy and the consequences of previous heart attacks (for example, heart aneurysm and mitral valve regurgitation), some patients with heart failure may be candidates for conventional heart surgery. 

Using a combination of coronary revascularization, valvular repair/replacement, and ventricular reconstruction, our surgeons improve the circulation to the heart, eliminate leaking valves inside the heart and help improve the pumping function of the heart.  Although often considered too “high risk” surgery, our surgeons have extensive experience and expertise in Heart Failure Surgery, and even patients with the most severe heart failure may be candidates for this intensive therapy at low surgical risk through our program.

Heart Transplantation

For some patients with end-stage heart disease in whom medical therapy is no longer adequate and conventional heart failure surgery is not an option, heart transplantation provides an excellent alternative.  Having been performed for over 40 years, heart transplantation is a procedure in which a patient’s failing heart is replaced by a healthy donor heart.

At Tufts Medical Center, our surgeons have been performing heart transplantation for greater than 20 years with excellent results.  Serving as a major transplant referral center for New England, we have performed more than 200 heart transplants.  Over the past 20 years, along with our Heart Failure Cardiologists, the Heart Failure and Transplant program has achieved results that have been equal or better than national and international averages.

Mechanical Assist Devices

For more than 20 years, mechanical devices have been utilized to help support the circulation of patients with end-stage heart failure.  Since then, many new devices, now commonly referred to as ventricular assist device (VAD) or mechanical/circulatory assist systems, have been developed to provide both temporary and long-term support. 

Tufts Medical Center’s Heart Failure and Transplantation Center, is a nationally-recognized program in VAD therapy and offers our patients access to the latest technologies in this field.  Our surgeons provide expertise in the HeartWare HVAD, HearMate II, HeartMate XVE and Thoratec PVAD and Abiomed systems which they have successfully implanted as bridge-to-transplant (to help support patients awaiting heart transplantation), bridge-to-recovery (to help support patients while his/her own heart recovers from illness), and destination therapy (permanent implantation for patients for whom medical therapy is no longer adequate and transplantation is not an option).  Our success in VAD therapy for end-stage heart failure has earned Tufts Medical Center national recognition and numerous awards.  Most recently, the VAD program has received an Award of Excellence from Abiomed, Inc. (one of only five such awards internationally) in recognition of our excellent results.

Education/Research/Community Outreach

In addition to serving as a tertiary care center in Boston, accepting patients from numerous hospitals all over the New England area, Tufts Medical Center’s Heart Failure and Transplantation Center also serves a crucial academic and research role for the entire region.  Our physicians all have appointments at Tufts University School of Medicine. We currently participate in several national, multi-center trials investigating the use of new mechanical circulatory assist devices and organ preservation systems. The annual Heart Failure Symposium hosted by Tufts Medical Center provides continuing medical education for physicians and allied health professionals from the entire region. 

Through the surgical program, Tufts Medical Center serves as one of only a few training facilities nationally for the Abiomed VAD system. Our experts perform extensive outreach education within the community.  And furthermore, our clinicians also participate in clinical and basic science research, investigating the latest devices and drugs related in heart failure therapy and identifying risk factors related to heart failure.  Through these endeavors, we ensure our patients receive not only the most innovative treatments but also the most attentive care while at Tufts Medical Center and at home in their communities.