New Jersey is famous for its tomatoes, beautiful shore and diverse population, but did you know that the Garden State is also home to the largest adult heart transplant center on the East Coast — respected around the world for its expertise in caring for people with advanced heart failure?
History of Success
The Barnabas Health Heart Center at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center has a long and distinguished history in the field of cardiology. Its pioneering physicians performed the first early coronary bypass procedures in the 1950s and their work in the development and use of pacemakers is world-renowned. New Jersey’s first heart transplant was performed there in 1986. Today, Newark Beth Israel’s Heart Failure Treatment and Transplant Program is drawing attention for its outstanding quality.
More than 800 heart transplants have been performed with a success rate that has consistently met or exceeded the national average, according to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients. This reputation for excellence also makes Newark Beth Israel a principal destination for breakthrough therapies. The center is part of groundbreaking research that is exploring innovative methods for preserving donor organs and cardiac stem cell research that may help the heart heal itself.
The Numbers Behind Transplant
• There is a disparity between the number of people in the United States who need a heart transplant and the number of hearts donated each year.
• More than 25,000 people are referred for heart transplantation each year.
• Only 3,000 of those 25,000 individuals make it onto the heart transplant waiting list.
• A mere 2,300 hearts are donated in a typical year.
VAD: A Mechanical Alternative
The need for an alternative treatment has fueled the development of mechanical circulatory support devices that replace a diseased heart’s pumping action. Although many people had not heard of a ventricular assist device (VAD) until former Vice President Dick Cheney had one implanted in 2010, for more than 15 years, these amazing little devices have helped people get out of bed and back to their daily routine despite severe heart failure. In their own way, VADs have quietly revolutionized the care of people with severe heart failure.
VAD technology is evolving rapidly and the cardiac specialists at Newark Beth Israel are working directly with device manufacturers to improve their design and extend their performance. Through its participation in the clinical trials of the newest devices, Newark Beth Israel can offer these advanced treatment options years before they are available at other cardiac centers.
The Barnabas Health Heart Failure Treatment and Transplant Program has three locations in New Jersey:
• Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark
• Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston
• Heart and Lung Specialty Center in Toms River
For information, call (973) 926-7205.