Heart Failure Center of Excellence

LARGEST DEDICATED HEART FAILURE TEAM IN THE REGION
The Heart Failure Center of Excellence within Tampa General Hospital’s (TGH) Heart & Vascular Institute (HVI) offers the most comprehensive and experienced team in the region and one of the nation’s best heart failure programs.

The heart failure team manages all patients with heart failure, determines the best next treatment for optimal quality of life — from medical management to device implantation to transplant — and coordinates care throughout the continuum.

A multidisciplinary approach to the care of each heart failure patient involves multiple cardiac subspecialists, including interventional cardiologists, cardiac imaging specialists and electrophysiologists, cardiac surgeons, as well as endocrinologists, nephrologists, pulmonologists and sleep specialists when clinically indicated.

MECHANICAL CIRCULATORY SUPPORT: LIFE-SAVING DEVICES
The TGH Heart Failure Center of Excellence is home to the robust Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS) Program led by Dr. Ioana Dumitru and Dr. Lucian Lozonschi. The MCS program is on the cutting edge of both temporary and durable device implants. TGH was one of the first institutions in the country to successfully implement the RP Impella Flex as part of the temporary MCS strategy.

Additionally, they are a high-volume Impella 5.5 program with some of the best survival rates in the country related to temporary mechanical support. The center has a thriving durable MCS program focusing both on bridge to transplant and destination therapy patients.

COMPREHENSIVE SUBSPECIALTY CLINICS
The Heart Failure Center has established multiple niche programs to treat patients with amyloidosis, hypertrophic and genetic cardiomyopathies, among others. The Interventional Heart Failure Program offers patients TEER, CardioMEMS, CoreCinch, BAROSTIM and other interventions not available in traditional clinical settings and through national studies.

The HVI has also created a protocol-driven transition and cardiogenic shock clinics to help reduce congestive heart failure readmissions. The primary focus of care includes medical management, as well as social determinants of health that impact patient outcomes.

UNIQUE GENETIC COUNSELING PROGRAM TO DETECT FAMILIAL CARDIOMYOPATHIES
The heart failure team collaborates with cardiac geneticists to determine inherited forms of cardiomyopathy, offer potential treatments, and afford families the opportunity to plan and determine risk. This level of genetic evaluation is unique to the HVI and sets us apart from 90% of medical centers in the U.S.

24/7 DEDICATED CARDIOGENIC SHOCK TEAM
The HVI offers the first and only comprehensive cardiogenic shock program in the Tampa Bay region. The team is available to care for cardiogenic shock patients both within the institution and for those being transferred to the TGH Heart & Vascular Institute. A multidisciplinary team of specialists, including heart failure cardiologists, interventional cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons and a CT-ICU intensivist determine the best course of action for each patient. The average time from an initial intake call to plan of action is as little as five minutes. By quickly assessing patients and providing lifesaving therapy, the program has already improved patient survival.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION WITH BARIATRIC SURGERY PROGRAM
The heart failure team works closely with bariatric surgeons to help obese heart failure patients become heart transplant candidates. For patients whose obesity and inability to lose weight make their chances too risky for a transplant, TGH provides temporary mechanical support devices before undergoing bariatric procedures. Once they’ve lost enough weight to qualify, patients can receive heart transplants with considerably better outcomes.

View the Heart & Vascular Institute Annual Highlights Booklet