TriStar Centennial Heart and Vascular Center Launches LVAD Program
TriStar Centennial Heart and Vascular Center is pleased to announce the expansion of its advanced, comprehensive cardiovascular surgical treatment program to now offer Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVAD). An LVAD is a life-saving surgical treatment option for patients with severe heart failure who have exhausted all treatment options for their care.
Left Ventricular Assist Devices are used when a patient’s failing heart is no longer able to pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs. The LVAD is implanted during open-heart surgery with one end attached to the left ventricle and the other end attached to the aorta, the body’s main artery. The device takes blood from the left ventricle and carries it to the aorta where it is then distributed throughout the body.
The LVAD can be placed temporarily as a “bridge” to a heart transplant or it can be used as a permanent solution. “Destination” therapy is for patients who don’t qualify or may not want a transplant.
“Left Ventricular Assist Devices have dramatically changed how we are able to help treat patients with severe heart failure,” said Dr. Duc Nguyen who performed the first LVAD surgery at TriStar Centennial Heart and Vascular Center on May 14, 2018. “When a patient is facing a difficult diagnosis with few treatment options, we now have the ability to offer them a proven solution to assist their failing heart and a better quality of life.”
“Our multidisciplinary team at TriStar Centennial Heart and Vascular Center work together and utilize the latest surgical techniques and devices to care for the cardiac care needs of the growing communities we serve,” said President and CEO of TriStar Centennial Medical Center Scott Cihak. “LVADs will allow us to help even more patients diagnosed with the severe and life-threatening effects of advanced congestive heart failure.”
For more information and to determine if you are a candidate for LVAD surgical therapy, call TriStar Cardiovascular Surgery at 615.342.6900. To learn more about LVAD and our heart and vascular program, go to www.tristarcentennial.com.
