Press Releases

NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia Sets U.S. Record for Number of Heart Transplants in One Year with 119

119 Patients Receive New Hearts at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia in 2005

NEW YORK (Jan. 13, 2006) — NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center performed 119 heart transplants in 2005, a one-year record for any U.S. medical center in the history of heart transplantation.

NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia has the largest heart transplant program in the country, having performed more than 1,700 transplants since the inception of its heart transplant program in 1977.

"Every heart transplant is a gift of life. This achievement is a tribute to the dedication of the physicians and nurses who work on the heart transplant team," says Dr. Yoshifumi Naka, director of cardiac transplantation and mechanical circulatory support programs at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia and the Herbert Irving Assistant Professor of Surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

"Our record is recognition of NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia as a world leader in heart transplantation. It also points to the epidemic of heart failure in this country," says Dr. Donna Mancini, medical director of cardiac transplantation at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia and professor of medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

The survival rate for these 119 NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia heart transplant recipients in 2005 is 95 percent, 10 percent higher than the national average—despite the fact that many patients are more severely ill.

NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia is recognized as a leader in the management of heart failure and the use of assist devices and novel immunosuppression protocols.

The previous one-year record of 113 heart transplants, set in 1998, was held by The Cleveland Clinic.

Heart Transplantation

The heart may be irreversibly damaged by heart disease or viral infection. People with long-term heart failure, heart muscle disease, or other irreversible heart injury from coronary artery disease and multiple heart attacks that cannot be treated by any other medical or surgical means may be candidates for heart transplants. When the heart can no longer work adequately and a person is at risk of dying, a heart transplant may be necessary. This involves removing a diseased heart and replacing it with a healthy human heart.

The demand for donor hearts is greater than the supply. At any given time, about 4,000 patients are on the national waiting list for a heart transplant, but only about 2,300 donor hearts become available for transplantation each year. The average waiting time to transplant is more than seven months.