The Texas Heart Institute

The Texas Heart Institute is a not-for-profit cardiology and heart surgery center located within the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1962 by Dr. Denton A. Cooley, its original charter stated its purpose was “the study and treatment of diseases of the heart and blood vessels.[1] Today, the Institute’s mission is to reduce the devastating toll of cardiovascular disease through innovative programs in research, education, and improved patient care.[2] The Texas Heart Institute and its clinical partner, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, have become one of the nation's largest cardiovascular centers. Its 160-member professional staff have performed more than 100,000 open heart operations, 200,000 cardiac catheterizations, and 1,000 heart transplants.[3] In 2010, in its annual survey of “America's Best Hospitals,” U.S. News & World Report ranked the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital number 4 in the United States for heart care, making this its 20th consecutive year as one of the top 10 heart centers in the country.[4][5]

History

Denton A. Cooley, MD

1962 – Charter for the Texas Heart Institute is filed at the Texas Capitol Building on August 3.[1]
1967 – Ground is broken on June 26 for the St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital expansion program for the Texas Heart Institute and a 28-story patient tower.[1]
1972 – Eight new operating suites are opened for surgery, three of which have overhead viewing galleries, or “domes,” for teaching purposes.[1]
1974 – Clayton Research Cardiac Catheterization Labs are opened.[6]
1976 – The first accredited School of Perfusion Technology in the United States is opened.[6]
1977 – Electrophysiology laboratories are opened.[6]
1978 – Institute surgeons perform the first bridge-to-transplant procedure, wherein a left ventricular assist device is used to support the patient until a donor heart becomes available for transplantation.[6]
1980 – Two more operating suites are opened for surgery.[1]
1981 – Institute surgeons perform the second implantation in the world of an artificial heart in a human.[6]
1983 – “Skybreaking” ceremony on December 13 officially begins the construction phase of an expansion plan to add four new floors.[1]
1991 – Patient with a portable, battery-powered left ventricular assist device becomes the first in the world to leave the hospital with his device.[6]
1998 – Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital is chosen as one of six centers where cardiac magnetic resonance imaging trials are performed.[6]
1999 – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the use of a stent graft for the repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms; the device was tested exclusively at the Texas Heart Institute.[6]
2000 – The Texas Heart Institute becomes the first site for clinical trials of the Jarvik 2000, a miniature, axial flow left ventricular assist device.[6]
2001 – Institute surgeons perform the 100,000th open heart operation at the Texas Heart Institute.[6]

– Dr. O.H. Frazier implants the AbioCor total artificial heart in a patient as part of a clinical trial of the device.[6]

2002 – The dedication of the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital–The Denton A. Cooley Building takes place.[6]
2003 – The Texas Heart Institute becomes the first nationally ranked cardiovascular center in the United States to open a simulation training laboratory for cardiac catheterization procedures.[6]
2004 – The Texas Heart Institute begins the first FDA-approved clinical trial in the United States of adult stem cell therapy for the treatment of congestive heart failure.[6]
2006 – Institute surgeons perform the 1000th heart transplant procedure at the Texas Heart Institute.[6]
2007 – The National Institutes of Health selects the Texas Heart Institute as one of five centers for a stem cell study consortium.[6]
2008 – The Texas Heart Institute receives a grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a new total artificial heart that will comprise 2 small, continuous flow ventricular assist devices—the first total artificial heart of its kind.[7]
2008 – Dr. James T. Willerson assumes the role of president of the Texas Heart Institute, effective August 1.[8]

Research

The Stem Cell Center of the Texas Heart Institute was first in the United States to receive FDA approval for an adult stem cell clinical trial to treat patients with advanced heart failure. In addition, the Texas Heart Institute was one of five centers selected by the National Institutes of Health to study stem cell treatments for patients with cardiovascular disease. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has provided a $33.7 million to support these centers in a new national consortium called the Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network.[9]

Physician scientists at the Texas Heart Institute have amassed the world’s greatest experience in the development and use of ventricular assist devices (VADs) to sustain the failing circulation in patients with severe heart failure. More than a dozen different VADs are being studied in clinical trials conducted by the Center for Cardiac Support at the Texas Heart Institute, and more are under development in preclinical studies. A key area of research in the field of VADs is the concept of heart failure “remission,” or the use of a VAD to support a patient’s heart, thus giving the heart time to heal and recover normal function. Over the last three years, seven patients supported long term with a HeartMate II VAD have achieved remission, allowing for the removal of their devices.[9] Researchers are also working on the development of a small total artificial heart that would deliver blood by continuous flow rather than pulsation.[9]

Medical firsts

Many firsts have been achieved by cardiologists and surgeons at the Texas Heart Institute.

Location

The Texas Heart Institute is located in the Denton A. Cooley Building, adjacent to its clinical partner, St. Luke’s Hospital, within the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas. The 327,000-square foot, 10-story Cooley Building was designed for four primary purposes—patient care, research, education, and clinical treatment. There are twelve 650-square-foot (60 m2) operating rooms devoted exclusively to heart procedures and three floors of specialized patient care rooms.[32]

Two floors of the Cooley Building are devoted to the molecular and cellular study (basic scientific research) of cardiovascular disease. One of those floors is used collaboratively by The University of Texas system for cardiovascular research.[32] A helistop is located on the roof of the building, which increases the efficiency of emergency patient care and the heart transplant program.[32]

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Twenty-five Years of Excellence: A History of the Texas Heart Institute. Texas Heart Institute Foundation: 1989
  2. ↑ "AboutUs - Texas Heart Institute". Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  3. ↑ "History - Texas Heart Institute". Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  4. ↑ "USNews and World Report". Retrieved 2010-07-21.
  5. ↑ "News - Texas Heart Institute". Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 6.21 6.22 6.23 "Milestones - Texas Heart Institute". Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  7. ↑ "Artificial heart - Texas Heart Institute". Retrieved 2008-08-25.
  8. ↑ "Willerson - Texas Heart Institute". Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Research - Texas Heart Institute". Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  10. ↑ Cooley DA, Bloodwell RD, Hallman GL, Nora JJ. Transplantation of the human heart: report of four cases. JAMA 1968;205:479-486
  11. ↑ Cooley DA, Liotta D, Hallman GL, Bloodwell RD, Leachman RD, Milam JD. Orthotopic cardiac prosthesis for two-staged cardiac replacement. Am J Cardiol 1969;24:723-730
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 "CV Surgery Topics - Texas Heart Institute". Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  13. ↑ Cooley DA, DeBakey ME. Ruptured aneurysms of abdominal aorta: excision and homograft replacement. Postgrad Med 1954;16:334-342
  14. ↑ Cooley DA. Carotid endarterectomy: from first recorded case to present. Tex Heart Inst J 1988;15:139-141
  15. ↑ Cooley DA, Al-Naaman YD, Carton CA. Surgical treatment of arteriosclerotic occlusion of common carotid artery. J Neurosurg 1956;13:500-506
  16. ↑ Cooley DA, Collins HA, Morris GC Jr, Chapman DW. Ventricular aneurysm after myocardial infarction: surgical excision with use of temporary cardiopulmonary bypass. JAMA 1958;167:557-560
  17. ↑ Hallman GL, Cooley DA, McNamara DG, Latson JR: Single left coronary artery with fistula to right ventricle: reconstruction of two-coronary system with Dacron graft. Circulation 1965;32:293-297.
  18. ↑ Cooley DA, Beall AC Jr, Grondin P. Open-heart operations with disposable oxygenators, 5 percent dextrose prime, and normothermia. Surgery 1962;52:713-719
  19. ↑ Cooley DA, Crawford ES, Howell JF, Beall AC Jr. Open heart surgery in Jehovah's Witnesses. Am J Cardiol 1964;13:779-781
  20. ↑ Norman JC. An intracorporeal (abdominal) left ventricular assist device [ALVAD]: clinical readiness and initial trials in man. Cardiovasc Dis. 1976;3(3):249-288.
  21. ↑ Norman JC, Duncan JM, Frazier OH, Hallman GL, Ott DA, Reul GJ, Cooley DA. Intracorporeal (abdominal) left ventricular assist devices or partial artificial hearts: A five-year clinical experience. Arch Surg. 1981 Nov;116(11):1441-5.
  22. ↑ Wukasch DC, Cooley DA, Bennett JG, Gontijo B, Bongiorno FP. Results of a new Meadox-Cooley double velour Dacron graft for arterial reconstruction. J Cardiovasc Surg (Torino) 1979;20:249-260
  23. ↑ Cooley DA. New mitral and aortic valve prostheses: design and clinical results. Cardiovascular Diseases, Bulletin of the Texas Heart Institute 1974;1:46-51
  24. ↑ Livesay JJ. Intraoperative laser coronary angioplasty. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 1988 Jun;36 Suppl 2:150-4.
  25. ↑ Livesay JJ, Cooley DA: Laser coronary endarterectomy: proposed treatment for diffuse coronary atherosclerosis. Tex Heart Inst J 1984;11:276-279
  26. ↑ Livesay JJ, Leachman DR, Hogan PJ, Cooper JR, Sweeney MS, Frazier OH, Cooley DA. Preliminary report on laser coronary endarterectomy in patients. Circulation 1985;72(suppl III):III-302.
  27. ↑ Frazier OH, Duncan JM, Radovancevic B, Vega JD, Baldwin RT, Burnett CM, Lonquist JL. Successful bridge to heart transplantation with a new left ventricular assist device. J Heart Lung Transplant. 1992 May-Jun;11(3 Pt 1):530-7.
  28. ↑ Frazier OH, Delgado RM III, Kar B, Patel V, Gregoric ID, Myers TJ: First clinical use of the redesigned HeartMate II left ventricular assist device in the United States: a case report. Tex Heart Inst J 2004;31(2):157-159.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 "Cardiovascular Topics - Texas Heart Institute". Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  30. ↑ Krajcer Z, Diethrich EB. Successful endoluminal repair of arterial aneurysms by Wallstent prosthesis and PTFE graft: preliminary results with a new technique. J Endovasc Surg. 1997 Feb;4(1):80-7.
  31. ↑ ""Hybrid Surgical Suites - Texas Heart Institute". Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 "Denton A. Cooley Building - Texas Heart Institute". Retrieved 2008-08-20.

Coordinates: 29°42′29″N 95°23′58″W / 29.7081°N 95.3994°W