Heart transplantation is one of the most successful treatments for end-stage heart failure. When heart failure worsens despite the use of medications and pacemaker-type devices, heart transplantation should be considered.
Careful screening by the transplant program will determine which patients are suitable candidates. To be listed with the national organization, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), patients have to be formally approved by the transplant program.
Our Program's Highlights
Heart transplant surgery and patient care at Intermountain Heart Institute serves as a national model. Some highlights about our program include the following:
- Our survival rates at one, five, and ten years after transplant are among the highest in the nation.
- We were one of the very first cardiac transplant centers to be approved by Medicare.
- We have performed over 515 cardiac transplant procedures.
- We have produced over 250 peer-reviewed publications.
- We have earned nearly $12 million in research grants.
- We have instructed over 70 heart failure/heart transplant physicians. Many of our physicians go on to lead heart transplant programs elsewhere in the U.S. and internationally.
Since transplant medicine began in Utah, our team has contributed to the standard of care through extensive participation in clinical trials in immunosuppression. We have partnered with pathologists to become an international leader in understanding and classifying cardiac allograft (donor) rejection.
We are a member of The U.T.A.H. (Utah Transplantation Affiliated Hospitals) Cardiac Transplant Program, one of the most successful cooperative heart transplant programs in the nation. The program's unique model utilizes skill, expertise, and resources from four local hospitals:
- Intermountain Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center
- Primary Children's Medical Center
- University Health Care
- The George E. Wahlen Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center