ADVANCED HEART FAILURE
Mechanical Circulatory Support
The Advanced Heart Failure program has seen a significant rise in referrals over the past year due to an increase in patient need , as well as the program ’ s enhanced outreach efforts and team approach to patient care under the direction of Dan Meyer , MD , chief of Mechanical Circulatory Support .
The program is the only site in North Texas to offer the HeartMate 3™ left ventricular assist device ( LVAD ) as a destination therapy . This advanced technology features a highly reliable pump mechanism , which has limited certain device-related complications . The quality of the technology has helped increase physician and patient adoption . The team is also initiating the EVAHEART LVAD trial , a novel LVAD under a new clinical trail which may offer a decreased number of bleeding complications than present with the current technologies . The outpatient LVAD management program is the largest in North Texas , and as an added convenience for patients , a new clinic to manage heart failure and LVADs is opening soon in Fort Worth .
Extra Corporeal Life Support
A total of 114 patients received ECMO support in calendar year 2017 , making the Baylor University Medical Center program one of the busiest ECMO programs in the nation .
2018 ELSO AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN LIFE SUPPORT – GOLD LEVEL
Baylor University Medical Center has been awarded the 2018 Extracorporeal Life Support Organization ( ELSO ) Award for Excellence in Life Support – Gold Level . The award recognizes extracorporeal life support programs worldwide that distinguish themselves by having processes , procedures and systems in place that promote excellence and exceptional care in providing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation ( ECMO ) to their patients . As a designated Center of Excellence , Baylor Dallas has a high volume of ECMO cases encompassing veno-arterial , venovenous and trauma cases in cardiogenic shock , acute respiratory distress syndrome and trauma .
The Baylor University Medical Center Ventricular Assist Device ( VAD ) Destination Therapy Program received the Gold Seal of Approval from The Joint Commission ’ s Disease-Specific Care Recertification Survey in late 2017 . This approval is given when a program demonstrates compliance with consensus-based national standards and safety goals effective use of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines to manage and optimize care , and an organized approach to performance measurement and improvement activities .
The Advanced Heart Failure program also offers the only FDA-approved total artificial heart in the area . It is currently under consideration as a potential site for a landmark clinical trial exploring a new total artificial heart .
Number of patients who benefitted from a ventricular assist device ( FY18 ) 50
Joining the program in fiscal year 2018 , Dan Meyer , MD , chief of Mechanical Circulatory Support , checks out a helicopter .