Program in Heart Failure and Transplantation

Heart transplantation is an important treatment that should be considered for patients who would otherwise not survive.  The Program in Heart Failure and Transplantation at the Strong Heart and Vascular Center is committed to offering your patients an individualized treatment plan that will enable them to enjoy the best possible quality of life.  For many patients, heart transplant dramatically improves their outcome. 

We have been offering heart transplantation as one of our heart failure treatments since 2001.  Our program has achieved outstanding survival rates on par with other leading transplantation centers nationwide.  As the only active program in New York State outside of the New York City area, we offer patients the opportunity to stay close to home, near their support network of family and friends, for the entire transplantation process.

Our program is approved by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and compliments the other transplant services long offered at Strong.  Strong is recognized as a UNOS transplant center for pediatric and adult liver, kidney, and kidney/pancreas transplantation.  We first began offering transplantation services in 1966 for kidney.

• Ongoing training on new technology
• Outpatient clinic
• Procedure room
• Cardiopulmonary exercise testing lab
• Cardiovascular ICU (7-1600)
• Heart Failure/Transplant/ VAD Step-Down Unit (7-3400)

• 126 Heart Transplants through September 2009
• The program follows over 350 heart failure patients, 40+ pre-transplant, 125 post-transplant, and 11 destination LVAD patients.
• Over the past 5 years averaging 35+ ventricular assist device implants per year.

• HF-ACTION:  For Heart failure and A Controlled Trial Investigating Outcomes of Exercise Training

Primary Investigator: Leway Chen, M.D., M. P.H.
Years Conducted April 2004-April 2009

• COMPS:  Cardiovascular Outcomes Monitoring Program at Strong

Primary Investigator:  Leway Chen, M.D., M.P. H.
Years Conducted:  2004-Ongoing

• NESIRITIDE/VO2:  Prospective, nonblinded study to investigate the potential benefit of nesiritide (Natrecor) in improving exercise capacity in patients with heart failure

Primary Investigator:  Leway Chen, M.D., M.P.H.
Years Conducted:  2004-Ongoing

• Pivotal Study:  Heartmate II: 

Primary Investigator:  H. Todd Massey, M.D.
Years Conducted:  2004-Ongoing

• USzLAP: US CRT-D based heart failure monitoring study:

Primary Investigator: Leway Chen, M.D., M.P.H. and Spencer Rosero, M.D.
Years Conducted: 2009 - Ongoing

• Paracorp Heartnet: Venticular Support System:

Primary Investigator: Leway Chen, M.D., M.P.H.
Years Conducted: 2008-2009

• IMAC II Study: Genetic modulation of LV Recovery in Myocarditis and Acute Cardiomyopathy (NIH)

Subinvestigators: Jeffrey Alexis, M.D. and Michael Fong, M.D.
Years Conducted: 2006- Present.

• Bcr and PPARg as Targets for Transplant Arteriopathy (K01-NIH)

Primary Investigator: Jeffrey Alexis, M.D.
Years Conducted: 2006- Present.