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A Pioneering Heart Transplant Program

LVAD research and use at the University of Minnesota and Fairview-University Medical Center

A ventricular assist device, or VAD, works to help the heart’s most critical pumping chamber. The left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a pump that is surgically connected to the heart in two places to replace the normal pumping function of the heart’s left ventricle. The pump is implanted in the patient’s abdominal cavity, and the power source is the only external evidence of the device. VADs are giving many heart patients new opportunities for improved quality of life.

For information about LVAD call 612-625-3902.

REMATCH clinical trials

The LVAD was tested beginning in 1995 at the University of Minnesota and University of Minnesota Medical Center for its ability to support heart patients waiting for a transplant.

Cardiologist Leslie Miller, M.D., (see bio) and surgeon Soon Park, M.D., recently led the initial clinical trial, funded by the National Institutes of Health, called “The Randomization of Mechanical Assistance for the Treatment of Congestive Heart Failure” (REMATCH). University of Minnesota Medical Center was the second highest enrolling site of 20 centers participating in this landmark national study. Our cardiovascular team and those at two other institutions in the United States are the only centers approved to train surgeons in this new technology.

It is used as a treatment of congestive heart failure (CHF) when heart transplant is not possible, and when the heart needs a rest to heal itself.

Time and LVAD allows a sick heart to heal

One recent story tells of a patient who contracted a virus that attacked her heart. Featured June 10, 2003 in the New York Times, Megan Ivers, experiencing flu-like symptoms, was rolled from her freshman dorm room at the University of Minnesota on a desk chair to a car for the short trip to University of Minnesota Medical Center across campus. Quickly it was clear that her heart was failing. Ivers received an LVAD in December 2002, and three months later it was removed when tests confirmed that her heart had recovered from the illness. She says now that she feels “pretty normal.” Marching band and multiple flights of stairs are still a big part of her life.

LVAD provides improved quality of life

LVAD patients have few restrictions. The rechargeable batteries must be changed three or four times a day, and the bandages around the cable to the battery must be changed daily and kept dry. Showering is allowed, but swimming is not.

Leslie Miller, M.D., contributed to a New England Journal of Medicine article published in November 2001 that concluded, “The use of a left ventricular assist device in patients with advanced heart failure resulted in a clinically meaningful survival benefit and an improved quality of life. A left ventricular assist device is an acceptable alternative therapy in selected patients who are not candidates for cardiac transplantation.”