Yale New Haven Hospital sets milestone with 400th heart transplant

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New Haven, CT (June 27, 2019) – Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) Heart and Vascular Center has achieved a milestone by performing its 400th heart transplant since the first at YNHH was performed in 1984.The number was reached on May 12, 2019.

“This accomplishment is the result of significant groundwork that the YNHH heart transplant team has worked on tirelessly. We now have a very effective system that can offer this life-saving procedure to many more patients in Connecticut and beyond. The excellent results that we have experienced over the last year puts us on par with the best heart transplant programs in the country, in line with the vision of bringing cutting-edge, high-level care to our patients,” said Arnar Geirsson, MD, chief of cardiac surgery, YNHH Heart and Vascular Center; and associate professor, Cardiac Surgery, Yale School of Medicine (YSM).

“This achievement means that 400 individuals have been provided the opportunity for a second life,” said Dan Jacoby, MD, director, cardiomyopathy program and comprehensive heart failure program, Yale New Haven Hospital Heart and Vascular Center; and associate professor, internal medicine, cardiovascular diseases, YSM.

“The increased volume of transplants done in the past year reflects the incredible dedication of the Heart and Vascular Center clinical and leadership teams to provide this lifesaving therapy to the people of Connecticut and surrounding areas. As our expertise has grown, our teamwork has allowed us to provide top results to more and more individuals across the spectrum of cardiovascular disease,” said Dr. Jacoby.

Helping contribute to this new milestone, Yale New Haven Hospital Heart and Vascular Center performed 30 adult heart transplants in 2018. This set a new record for Connecticut, surpassing the previous mark of 21. In addition, YNHH achieved a 100 percent survival rate for heart transplant recipients at 30 days post-surgery. Heart transplants at YNHH increased 114 percent from 2017 to 2018.

“Completing our 400th heart transplant at Yale New Haven Hospital follows the 45 heart transplants we have performed over the last 10 ½ months,” said Ayyaz Ali, MB ChB, associate professor, Cardiac Surgery, YSM. Dr. Ali is also surgical director of the Advanced Heart Failure, Heart Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support Program at YNHH. “Our approach has been very aggressive in terms of listing recipients who would benefit from a transplant but are high risk for surgery. In addition, we try and maximize the utilization of donor hearts that are offered to us. These changes have led to our growth. Importantly, despite pushing the boundaries, our outcomes remain amongst the best in the United States.”

Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH), part of Yale New Haven Health, is a nationally recognized, 1,541-bed, not-for-profit hospital serving as the primary teaching hospital for the Yale School of Medicine (YSM). Founded as the fourth voluntary hospital in the U.S. in 1826, today, YNHH has two New Haven-based campuses, and also includes Yale New Haven Children's Hospital, Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital and Smilow Cancer Hospital. YNHH has received Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the nation’s highest honor of nursing excellence. YNHH has a combined medical staff of about 4,500 university and community physicians practicing in more than 100 specialties. www.ynhh.org