Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute recently expanded its advanced heart failure treatment program to include implantation of left ventricular assist devices (LVAD). Fewer than a dozen hospitals in Florida are able to offer this procedure to heart failure patients.
Smaller, more durable and with a longer battery life, the LVAD heart pump works as a bridge to transplant, keeping a patient’s heart functioning while awaiting transplantation. LVAD also can be used as a destination device for those who are not transplant candidates.
“Patients with class 4 advanced heart failure symptoms who are being medically managed are candidates for LVAD,” says Anthony Rongione, MD, a board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon who recently relocated from the Washington, D.C., area to join the Orlando Health team. Dr. Rongione is a national leader in innovative treatment options for valve disease and heart failure, and specializes in minimally invasive aortic valve surgery and LVAD implantation.
In addition to prolonging life, the LVAD heart pump improves the quality of that life, allowing heart-failure patients to return to more of the activities they enjoy. “We are excited to be able to offer our community this niche procedure,” says Dr. Rongione. “Adding LVAD supports our comprehensive approach of providing robust cardiac care for patients suffering any stage of heart failure, regardless of the complexity.
“We have an entire multidisciplinary team of board-certified cardiologists and cardiac surgeons dedicated to handholding an advanced heart-failure patient,” he says. “The goal is twofold — to provide the correct therapies, like LVAD, that may not be given to them unless they come to see us and to ultimately have our patients discharged to home.”
Orlando Health hospitals are recognized among the nation’s best through the IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals study for 2021.
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