From Childhood to Adulthood: Memorial’s Heart Transplant Programs Provide Second Chance at Life for Many in South Florida

 

The dedicated transplant team at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital has performed 25 transplants since receiving accreditation from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) in December 2010 for pediatric heart transplants.

 

In turn, The Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute (MCVI) Heart Transplant program has performed 13 heart transplants since receiving UNOS accreditation in 2014.

 

The similarities of both programs are many in regards to services and milestones, yet the one unique aspect of having an adult and pediatric heart program under Memorial Healthcare System is that patients can enjoy a continuum of care from childhood to adulthood without going far from home.

 

“Realizing that these children are critically ill — indeed dying — when they come to us, and that we’re able to give them a second opportunity at life, is really the best feature of the program for us,” Maryanne Chrisant, M.D., Director, Pediatric Heart Transplant, Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathy. “It’s precious to be able to see pediatric heart patients recovered and going to school, playing with their friends, riding their bikes, skinning their knees — doing all the normal things that kids do.”

 

The Heart Transplant Programs
Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Heart Institute is one of only four programs providing highly specialized pediatric cardiac transplantation and pediatric heart failure management in Florida. The MCVI Adult Heart Transplant program is one of only seven in the state.

Establishing the programs was the culmination of years of strategic planning to bring highly skilled teams and a solid infrastructure to deliver world-class transplantation services. On the pediatric side, Frank Scholl, MD, Chief, Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery and Surgical Director, Pediatric Heart Transplant, came to Memorial from Vanderbilt University in 2006 and has been instrumental in creating the program. Dr. Chrisant, who joined Memorial in 2010, is a leader in directing heart transplant programs across the country, including The Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Virginia Children’s Hospital in Charlottesville.

 

On the adult heart transplant program, Enrique Gongora, M.D., is a board certified cardiac surgeon who completed his fellowship in critical care at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. and Ioana Dumitru, MD, is a board-certified advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist and was the founder and medical director of Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha prior to joining Memorial.

 

Among other specialized cardiac services, both cardiac groups offer Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) programs, providing mechanical circulatory support for children and adults with severe end-stage heart failure or who are awaiting a heart transplant. Both programs also provide patient- and family-centered care to help patients receive outstanding treatment and recover faster. Inpatients and outpatients have the benefit of team psychologists, social services, education and support programs.

 

“Heart transplantation demands a comprehensive team effort,” Dr. Gongora explained. “Beyond the physicians, we’re fortunate to have a team of high caliber, dedicated nurses, intensivists, perfusionists, and laboratory medicine experts – all levels of patient care – who are helping us make this dream a reality.”

 

The Heart Transplant Program at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Heart Institute just celebrated its 5^th year anniversary.

 

“The program is proof that if, as a team and a healthcare system, you focus on providing the highest quality of care for your patients and families, you are capable of amazing things,” Dr. Scholl says.