Yoshifumi Naka, MD, PhD Director, Cardiac Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support Programs

Donna Mancini, MD Medical Director of Cardiac Transplantation

We are pleased to welcome you to the website for the Cardiac Transplantation Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center (NYPH/Columbia). One of the top three heart transplants programs in the nation and one of the largest programs in the world, we have over 25 years of experience in caring for cardiac transplant patients. Under the guidance of Yoshifumi Naka, MD, PhD, Director, Cardiac Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support Programs, and Donna Mancini, MD, Medical Director, Cardiac Transplantation, we performed more than 70 of the over 2,000 heart transplants undertaken nationwide in 2003.

We sincerely believe that the care we provide our heart transplant patients is second to none. We measure this excellence not only in clinical outcomes—how many patients in our program are successfully transplanted and return to productive lifestyles—but also in the quality of life of our patients during the entire transplant process, from their evaluation as a transplant candidate, to their surgical care as a patient in the hospital, and throughout their follow-up treatments as a transplant recipient.

Cardiac Transplantation Team, NYPH/Columbia

The surgeons and cardiologists of NYPH/Columbia have a long and distinguished history of advancing "standards of care" by using innovative surgical techniques, applying our basic scientific research in immunosuppression to the clinical setting, and inventing and perfecting life-sustaining assist devices. In particular, we are recognized leaders in the development of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) that can either be used to prolong life while waiting for organ availability, or as a destination therapy for patients who are not eligible for transplantation. (To learn more about cardiac assist devices, please click here.)

Transplant recipients are not passive participants in their health care. They must be proactive and influential activists during the entire process. They must maintain their health while waiting for an organ, manage the physical challenges of surgery and its long recovery period, and reintegrate themselves into family and work roles. They face many substantial lifestyle changes, including unceasing monitoring of cardiac and total health, an extensive medication regimen, and committing to healthy habits in eating and physical exercise.

Our transplant team joins our patients in their lifelong commitment to returning to and maintaining sustained good health.

Sincerely,

Yoshifumi Naka, MD, PhD
Director, Cardiac Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support Programs

Donna Mancini, MD
Medical Director, Cardiac Transplantation Program