The new year will begin with new hope for a Nebraska man. The 55-year-old is doing well and making steady progress after undergoing heart transplant surgery on Friday, Dec. 23 at The Nebraska Medical Center.
This marks the fourth heart transplant since September, but it is the first time the recipient has been on a mechanical heart assist device prior to the operation.
“The remarkable part of this transplantation was the complexity of care that was needed before and during the surgery,” said Mohammed Quader, M.D., lead transplant surgeon at The Nebraska Medical Center and assistant professor of cardio-thoracic surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
The patient was placed on the heart transplant list in late summer. As his condition deteriorated, the decision was made to support his heart with a Left Ventricular Assist Device or LVAD. The device is an implant that helps the heart pump blood. It’s used in many people as a “bridge to transplant,” a way to keep weak hearts functioning and the patient alive until a transplant can be performed.
“LVAD was lifesaving to our patient. It did exactly what it was supposed to do,” said John Windle, M.D, Chief of Cardiology at The Nebraska Medical Center and professor of cardiology at UNMC.
“This process of bridging for heart transplantation is more demanding and complex,” added Dr. Quader. “Our ability to provide LVAD to this patient and keep him alive until a donor heart became available speaks very highly of our facility and the extraordinary care provided here.”
Patients who use LVAD require careful monitoring by a dedicated team of skilled medical professionals. In this case, Jan O’Neil, the VAD Nurse Coordinator, made regular house calls. Not only did she work one-on-one with the patient and his wife, she also double checked the power supply to their home to make sure the mechanical heart pump would have the necessary electricity. Dr. Windle points out such treatment would not be successful without incredible nursing support.
That dedicated care helped the patient through nearly four months of waiting. A wait his doctors experienced with him. “Every time I saw this man I deeply felt the need to help him,” said Dr. Quader.
“When I finished the heart transplantation, I knew this would be a turning point in his life. I felt elated.”
The heart transplant team at The Nebraska Medical Center has performed four heart transplants in the past three months. The three earlier recipients and the dates of their transplants are as follows: 35-year-old Mark Maeder of Papillion, Neb., Sept. 30, 2005; 69-year-old Darrel J. Kominek of Kearney, Neb., Oct. 17, 2005; and 60-year-old Sandra Porter of Stamford, Neb., Dec. 10, 2005.
“The heart transplant team has been working hard,” said Ioana Dumitru, M.D., cardiologist and heart failure specialist at The Nebraska Medical Center and assistant professor of cardiology at UNMC. “We hope we can help other Nebraskans as well.”
That help encompasses options other than transplantation. The congestive heart failure and heart transplant program also utilizes cardiac rehabilitation. Dr. Dumitru guides many patients through this process to improve their heart health. A number of these people find they can manage their heart failure using medication or other treatments.
For more information, visit the “Heart Center” at www.nebraskamed.com.