The Mechanical Circulatory Support Program at the Department of Surgery is the only New York area surgical group to participate in a clinical trial of a new device for advanced heart failure patients, the Thoratec® HeartMate III Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAS).
Implantable LVADs take over the pumping action of the left ventricle in patients whose hearts are too weak to sustain themselves. Candidates for the HeartMate III trial include patients with advanced heart failure who need a device either as a bridge to heart transplantation, or who are ineligible for transplant and who will use the device indefinitely (called 'destination therapy').
The Department of Surgery has played an integral role in the development of many groundbreaking devices and procedures, including the FDA approval of the HeartMate® II LVAS, the predecessor to the HeartMate III. The new device provides about the same support as currently approved FDA LVADs (HeartMate II and Heartware), but improves upon the earlier designs in numerous ways.