Rochester man spotlights impact of URochester Medicine transplant care

A Rochester father of five received a second chance at life when an organ donor and doctors at University of Rochester Medicine Strong Memorial Hospital provided a new heart.It was the 400th time the heart transplant team performed this life-saving surgery. And a reminder of the critical need for this specialized care in the Rochester, Finger Lakes and Upstate New York regions.

“When we reach a milestone we look back at where we’ve been and the impact we’ve had,” said Leway Chen, MD, MPH, medical director of the Advanced Heart Failure Program.

“We started this program 25 years ago to support the growing number of people who need access to this care. Patients receive this care close to home, rather than facing the burden of leaving their families – their support systems – behind and traveling to a large city.”

Cardiac transplant Surgeon Raj Malyala, MD

About 40 percent of the program’s heart transplant recipients are local, living in Monroe, Wayne, Ontario, Livingston, Genesee and Orleans counties. Others travel to Rochester from throughout the state and northern Pennsylvania for this specialized care.

Shane Pitts, 48, will soon return to his 19th Ward home feeling better than he has in years. His recovery will take several months, though he is anxious to return to work as a salesman for Marina Dodge.

Hospitalized in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit since early February, he was overcome with joy when a matching heart became available.

“The doctor said: ‘We’ve got a heart that’s perfect for you.’ I’ll never forget that moment – it was amazing,” said Pitts, who has five children, three stepchildren, and four grandchildren.

“I immediately called my wife and we cried together.”

Cardiac surgeons Rajasekhar Malyala, MD, and Sanjog Rawtani, MBBS, with anesthesiologist Kunal Panda, MD, performed the life-saving transplantation surgery.

Difficult diagnosis

Heart failure cardiologist Jeffrey Alexis, MD

Six years ago, Pitts collapsed during a pick-up basketball game. It wasn’t the first time. URochester Medicine Cardiac Care’s Rebecca Shalleck, MD, PhD, recommended he receive an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, or ICD, to manage ventricular tachycardia, a heart rhythm disorder, and stabilize his heart function.

Cardiac sarcoidosis and LMNA heart disease have overlapping features and it can be difficult to distinguish between the two conditions. Genetic testing and counseling are important in our diagnosis of many cardiac conditions, said heart failure cardiologist Jeffrey Alexis, MD.Heart failure cardiologist Jeffrey Alexis, MD Heart failure cardiologist Jeffrey Alexis, MD. Over the past few years, Pitts’ health declined. Simple chores and climbing a flight of stairs was increasingly difficult. That’s when he was hospitalized to await transplantation.

That lengthy stay was frustrating, because Pitts thrives on a busy schedule. “I kept reminding him to be patient, it will happen for you,” his wife, Rosa, said.

Pitts’ deep faith and trust in his team of heart care experts carried him through long days.

Malyala is optimistic about Pitts’ recovery. “He received a very good heart, and he is progressing well to put this chapter behind him.”

“I never knew this kind of care was available here in Rochester and I’m blessed to receive it,” Pitts said. “The people caring for me are angels. From the environmental services team to the people who bring my meals, to the doctors and nurses who are so kind. And I’m grateful to have my family nearby to visit me.”

Innovative care

Leway Chen, MD, MPH, medical director of the Advanced Heart Failure Program

URochester Medicine’s multidisciplinary Cardiac Care team has a long history of innovative care and research for heart disease, including hypertension, cholesterol, arrhythmia management, valve and aortic disorders, and congenital disease, as well as cardiotoxicities from cancer therapy.

Clinical researchers performed foundational research into the use of ICDs for dangerous arrhythmias and established early guidelines for hypertension therapies.Growing incidence of heart failure– which impacts more than 6.7 million across the country – led to URochester Medicine’s 2001 introduction of high-tech heart pumps and heart transplantation, expanding care close to home. The pumps, called ventricular assist devices (VADs), are implanted in the chest to supplement or replace the pumping action of a failing heart.Strong Memorial is one of the busiest VAD centers in the nation, providing more than 1,000 pumps to patients. Device makers recognized our cardiac surgeons’ expertise and sought their insights to improve the design and durability of the pumps. Those relationships helped bring clinical trials to assess the efficacy of the evolving devices, bringing next-generation technology to Rochester patients first.

Cardiac surgeons at URochester Medicine were first in the country to perform a less invasive implant technique for the HeartMate 3 VAD, while reducing complications and improving outcomes.

Key to Life-Saving Care

The generosity of organ donors is essential to saving lives through transplantation. And the need is great.

In the U.S., there are more than 108,000 people waiting for organ transplants, including about more than 500 at Strong Memorial Hospital. Those figures far exceed the number of organs donated each year, according to the Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network, URochester Medicine’s organ procurement organization.

The shortage of organs means very sick patients must wait longer for life-saving surgeries. Sadly, 17 people die each day waiting. Anyone 16 and older can enroll in the New York State Donate Life Registry:

• online at passlifeon.org;
• at the Department of Motor Vehicles;
• applying for health care benefits through the New York Health Exchange;
• registering to vote;
• using UR Medicine’s MyChart patient portal.

Living donation is another option, which dramatically reduces the waiting time for an organ. Strong Memorial is a leader in living donor liver transplantation.