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Unparalleled collaboration for heart transplantation
When you need a heart transplant, nothing less than the best will do. In collaboration with Jefferson Health’s Transplant Institute, patients seeking heart failure care at Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute have more treatment options available to them. You will have access to the region’s largest team of cardiologists with board certification in advanced heart failure, bringing heart transplant care close to home.
Depending on the nature of your heart transplant, you may be referred to Jefferson Health’s heart transplant specialists in Philadelphia, whose teams are well equipped to treat even the most complex cases. You can count on a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach to your care – all while receiving expert surgical care and advanced heart failure support.
Coordinated care
Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute and Jefferson Transplant Institute work with each other every step of the way, all to benefit you. This allows for a seamless transition from pre-surgery appointments to surgery day and post-surgery follow-up.
Our approach includes:
- Timely evaluations and personalized assessments
- Skilled management for complex, high-risk individuals
- A multidisciplinary approach involving our expert cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons
- Structured long-term follow-up care after your heart transplant
Waiting for a match
We treat people with complex cases of heart disease that many hospitals turn away. These include mechanical circulatory support devices, such as ventricular assist devices (VADs), which are an effective heart failure treatment. A VAD helps the heart pump blood to the rest of the body.
We offer a “bridge-to-transplant” approach for people who are waiting on a heart transplant list. Through this approach you can receive a circulatory device to provide long-term heart support while awaiting a transplant match. We offer an extensive array of mechanical circulatory support devices, including:
- Left ventricular assist devices (LVAD): This surgically implanted pump helps circulate blood. We were the first in the region to offer smaller-sized LVADs that pump blood more gently and provide a better long-term quality of care.
- Impella®: The world’s smallest heart pump provides short-term support for up to seven days. It’s inserted via a catheter (thin hollow tube) in your femoral artery (main arterial supply in the leg). This device helps people who are experiencing cardiogenic shock, which occurs when your heart suddenly can’t pump enough blood to your organs. Impella also can support a patient’s heart during procedures that otherwise might be too risky.