Methodist Healthcare
August 25, 2010

In ceremonies on Wednesday, Methodist Heart Hospital will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its heart transplant program. The Heart Failure and Transplant Program at Methodist Heart Hospital is one of the largest in South Texas, and physicians there have performed nearly 300 heart transplants and 100 cardiac assist device implantations to date. The program was the first in South Texas to receive approval from Medicare and Medicaid. The program also remains the only one in San Antonio offering destination therapy utilizing the HeartMate® Left Ventrical Assist Device as a bridge to transplant or transplant alternative.

Dr. Michael Kwan, M.D., medical director of the Heart Failure and Heart Transplant Program, and other surgeons will be available for interviews.

Sarah Pipkin, 24, was born with aortic stenosis, a type of valvular heart disease. Though she has led an active life as an athlete and more recently as a teacher at San Angelo Central High School, she said she has known since junior high school that a transplant may be needed. Physicians initially thought that she would need a heart/lung transplant, but with the efforts of the pulmonary and heart team, she received a heart transplant at the end of July and is doing very well. She started walking and jogging six weeks after her surgery, and she expects to return to the classroom in October.

Santosh Mehta, 74, suffered from heart failure, but was not a candidate for a heart transplant. He was implanted with a HeartMate II LVAS (left ventricular assist system) in May 2007 as destination therapy, meaning there is no option of providing the patient with a heart transplant. Though he and his wife live in San Antonio, most of his family lives in India. With the assistance of Thoratec, maker of the HeartMate II, hospital staff facilitated a trip to Zurich, Switzerland in July for Mehta to vacation with his mother, who lives in India, and with other family members.

The staff obtained the Mehta’s travel itinerary and identified ventricular assistance device (VAD) centers in Switzerland and within 150 miles of his destination. They notified the airlines of special needs and travel equipment and also notified Homeland Security. Working directly with the patient they notified him that he needed to obtain a power adaptor for the battery charger and power module, obtained portable dressing change supplies, inspected the patient’s equipment and power adaptor, and instructed the patient on an emergency plan with contact information for the VAD centers. They also provided the patient with a packet of pictures of the equipment and a travel letter for use with airport security.

“It was very important to my father to be able to travel abroad and see his mother and other family members again,” said Mehta’s son, Amit. “He traveled without any medical problems.”