Heart

Jewish Hospital is pleased to offer patients and physicians several options for the treatment of Heart Failure. The Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) Program offers a wide range of patient care services from end-stage heart disease prevention, to the reduction of and recovery from the disease. The Cardiac Transplant (CT) Program offers heart transplantation along with pre- and post-heart transplant patient care.

Jewish Hospital works closely with University of Louisville School of Medicine faculty to pursue advanced transplant research, develop new technologies, promote enhanced educational programs, and provide the finest pre- and post-transplant patient care. Patient medical care during the entire transplant process occurs at Jewish Hospital, a private 442-bed tertiary care and teaching facility located in the Louisville Medical Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

Most patients who are referred to the Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Center usually have a condition generally referred to as cardiomyopathy, which is heart failure from any of numerous causes including:

• Viral infection
• Family history of heart disease
• Alcoholism
• Postpartum heart failure
• Coronary artery disease
• Birth and/or valve defect
• Failure of a prior bypass or transplant.

Working closely with patients' personal physicians, members of Jewish Hospital staff are specially trained to care for CHF patients. The CHF Program is available to all cardiac patients with heart failure, regardless of their eligibility as cardiac transplant candidates. Some of the services offered include:

• State-of-the-art medical therapies and access to the newest investigational drug trials in heart failure
• Clinical trials in new heart failure devices
• Advanced surgical therapies for end-stage heart failure, such as ventricular assist devices, partial left ventriculectomy, cardiac support device and heart transplant
• Potential future therapies such as a totally implantable artificial heart.
• Wellness, prevention, and exercise programs in supervised settings
• Patient education: nutrition, and weight management programs

Over the years, Jewish Hospital - working in conjunction with the University of Louisville School of Medicine - has established itself as a national leader in the clinical research and development of ventricular assist devices (VADs), which are used as a bridge-to-transplant. Jewish Hospital has FDA approval to use portable Novacor®, Thoratec®, and Heartmate® assist devices in patients who can be safely monitored in an off-hospital setting while they wait for a suitable donor heart. Physicians are encouraged to refer patients to the Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Center while they remain strong enough to better tolerate these procedures.

The first heart transplant in Kentucky was performed at Jewish Hospital in 1984. Since then, over 300 heart transplants have been performed at Jewish Hospital. Patients who are accepted as heart transplant candidates are listed with Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA), as well as nationally, with UNOS.

The Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Center uses a multidisciplinary team approach to cardiac transplant patient care. The Heart Transplant Team consists of cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, transplant nurse coordinators, psychiatrists, social workers, financial coordinators, medical consultants and administrators, who work closely with the operating room, critical care and medical-surgical units at Jewish Hospital.

Contact the Transplant Center via email

For transplant referral information call 1-800-866-7539 and follow the organ-specific telephone prompts.