Atlanta, Ga. (March 28, 2019) — Piedmont Heart Institute physicians David A. Dean, M.D., and Arun Krishnamoorthy, M.D., members of the Samksy Advanced Heart Failure Center, served as investigators on the ground-breaking Momentum 3 study that demonstrated a new Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD), which is designed to improve the quality of and to prolong the lives of advanced heart failure patients, has increased survival rates and resulted in fewer complications. Piedmont Atlanta Hospital served as one of the first five sites in the United States for the procedure to be performed.
The study, which involved more than 1,000 patients, was recently published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in New Orleans. Seventy-seven percent of patients implanted with the device, a magnetically levitated centrifugal-flow LVAD that goes by the brand name Abbott HeartMate 3™, remained alive and free of disabling stroke or the need to have another operation. That compared to 64.8 percent of the patients receiving the previous generation technology, a mechanical-bearing axial-flow LVAD. Patients were followed for at least two years.
“We are privileged to have worked on this important study and proud that Piedmont Atlanta Hospital served as one of the first five sites in the country for this important new LVAD device to be tested,” said Drs. Dean and Krishnamoorthy in a joint statement. “Heart failure is a crippling and costly disease. It is important to be able to offer these extremely sick patients a technology that gives them the opportunity to return to a better quality of life.”
More than a quarter million people are currently are living with advanced heart failure, many of whom need but are not eligible for transplant due to medical conditions or complications. The HeartMate 3™ provides a long-term option for those who do not qualify for a transplant. The HeartMate 3™ allows these individuals to live with a heart pump as a destination therapy option, which means they will have it for the rest of their lives. Without this intervention, patients with advanced heart failure will often begin planning for end of life when presented with this diagnosis.
Piedmont Heart ranks in the top 5 percent in the country among cardiovascular organizations and is the only program in Atlanta consistently recognized with the Cardiac Care Excellence Award from Healthgrades – a mark of quality it has earned for nine years. Piedmont is an international leader in cardiovascular research, enabling patient access to innovative therapies not available elsewhere.
Dr. Dean is a cardiothoracic surgeon and the surgical director for heart transplant and device therapy the Samsky Advanced Heart Failure Center. He specializes in cardiac transplantation, mechanical circulatory support and cardiac surgery. Dr. Dean is a graduate of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and completed his internship and residency at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. He was also a post-doctorate research scientist at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Dr. Krishnamoorthy is the medical director for the Samsky Advanced Heart Failure Center. He completed his medical degree at Emory University and his post-graduate training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Parkland Hospital, where he served as Chief Medicine Resident. He completed his clinical and research fellowships in Cardiovascular Disease and additional sub-specialty training in Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology at Duke University. Dr. Krishnamoorthy is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease, and Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology.