Doctors perform 1,000th heart transplant at Texas Heart Institute

Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital

February 27, 2006

HOUSTON

Cardiologist Reynolds Delgado, M.D., describes how the HeartMate II mechanical heart pump is implanted in Everardo Flores' chest (Photo: Gus Salinas)

Cardiovascular surgeon Bud Frazier, M.D., and his team have completed their 1,000th heart transplant at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital. It is believed Dr. Frazier has performed more heart transplants than any other surgeon in the world.

Dr. Frazier is chief of Cardiopulmonary Transplantation and director of Surgical Research at the Texas Heart Institute (THI) at St. Luke's. Dr. Denton A. Cooley, president and surgeon-in-chief of THI at St. Luke's, performed the first successful heart transplant in the U.S. at St. Luke's in 1968.

"The current program began with the advent of cyclosporine (in 1982), which allowed our patients more protection against systemic infections while being immunosuppressed," said Dr. Frazier. "I have always felt the limitation of heart transplantation is that it is only possible because of the misfortune of others. The families who make the choice to donate the organs of their loved ones are truly courageous."

The patient who received the 1000th heart transplant is no stranger to milestones. Everardo Flores, now 21, first came to the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's in 2003 suffering from cardiomyopathy of an unknown cause and heart failure. He was the first patient in the U.S. to receive the HeartMate II heart assist device which supported him for more than two years before an infection required explantation of the device in November. During the last two years, Mr. Flores has traveled to medical conferences across the country to share his experience with the heart assist device.

"I felt lucky to have the HeartMate II because it allowed me to live a fairly normal life. I could play with my daughter where before, I was too sick to even pick her up. I was able to go on with my life, help my dad at his shop and explore career choices. And it was interesting to meet all those medical people and help them learn about the device," said Mr. Flores. "I'm grateful the device helped me live this long, and now I'm thrilled to have a new heart."

"The HeartMate II served its purpose as a bridge to transplant. Even though we had to take it out, we found his heart had recovered some function and we were able to manage his heart failure symptoms in the hospital until a donor heart could be found. It's very gratifying to be able to help someone so young have a new chance at life," said Dr. Frazier.

Although Dr. Frazier and his team have unrivaled experience with heart transplantation, they are still refining their understanding of the lifesaving treatment. For example, they have been studying new drugs to prevent organ rejection and the effects of a drug treatment for anemia in heart transplant recipients. For the last 40 years, Dr. Frazier has devoted much of his research to the development of new devices to allow for heart recovery as well as being effective bridges to transplantation.

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This article posted March 20, 2006.