Heart Transplant Program

Cardiac experts at the Heart Transplant Program, a part of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, provide the highest standard of care for people who need heart transplants.

We are one of the top heart transplant programs in the country, as evidenced by data published by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR). Additionally, we care for patients with the most complex diagnoses and those who have been told by other programs that they were not a candidate for transplant. We are a national leader in the transplantation of sensitized patients with high levels of antibodies, which prevents them from receiving a transplant at most centers. Our innovative surgical approach, the experience of our transplant team, and our surgical facilities in Kimmel Pavilion, one of the most digitally advanced hospitals in the country, contribute to our success.

From your initial evaluation through post-transplant checkups, our skilled, compassionate team works with you and your family to ensure the best possible outcomes at every step of your journey. We offer all treatments and therapies related to heart transplant, including pretransplant care for heart failure, transplant evaluations, bridge to transplant therapies, and post-transplant appointments. Our doctors are available in Manhattan and on Long Island, so you can receive care at a location that is convenient for you.

Fastest Transplant Rate in the Northeast

We provide rapid medical evaluation to determine whether a transplant is right for you. Here are some of the most important ways in which our program stands out:

• Our heart program continues to have the highest patient survival in the nation amongst programs who performed more than 35 transplants a year, and the best one-year patient survival in New York State.
• Additionally, the heart program also has the fastest transplant rate in the Northeast.

In 2023, our heart transplant program performed the highest number of heart transplants in the Northeast.

Nader Moazami, MD, surgical director of heart transplantation, brings more than two decades of experience to the NYU Langone Transplant Institute. He has performed more than 1,000 heart transplants.

When a Heart Transplant Is Needed

People who are candidates for a heart transplant typically have heart failure, and other treatments for it have been unsuccessful. They may experience shortness of breath during very light levels of activity or have severe and frequent chest pain. Doctors at our Heart Failure Advanced Care Center can help you explore all your treatment options.

Some of the most common causes of heart failure include the following conditions:

• cardiomyopathy (genetic, hypertrophic, idiopathic, infectious, postpregnancy, postviral, or restrictive)
• congenital heart defects
• heart damage caused by a heart attack

First, your doctor explores all nontransplant treatment options for heart failure. If those methods are unsuccessful, your doctor may refer you to the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, or you may call us directly to schedule an appointment. Our doctors review your medical records and sometimes order additional cardiac tests, such as right and left heart catheterization, an echocardiogram, or a cardiopulmonary exercise stress test.

After any preliminary tests are complete, a doctor meets with you to discuss your medical history and conduct a complete physical exam. If the doctor determines that you’re a suitable candidate for transplant evaluation testing, the transplant nurse coordinator schedules additional tests that begin approximately two weeks after your first visit.

In addition to our transplant care for adults, we also care for children through the Pediatric Heart Failure and Transplant Program, part of Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone.

Heart Transplant Evaluation

When you come to NYU Langone for heart transplant evaluation, our team conducts several different types of tests:

• lab tests not conducted during your first visit
• a pulmonary function test
• radiology tests
• tests to check for blockages in the carotid arteries in your neck
• a test to measure blood flow in the veins and arteries of your legs

During the evaluation, you also meet with our heart transplant cardiologist and surgeon, as well as a transplant nurse coordinator, dietitian, financial coordinator, pharmacist, and social worker.

Throughout this process, our team evaluates whether a heart transplant is the best option for you, and keeps you and your family up to date so that you can make an informed decision.

We conduct heart transplant evaluations and provide pre- and post-transplant outpatient care at our Manhattan location and on Long Island at NYU Langone Cardiology Associates—Mineola and in partnership with the Heart Success program at Morristown Medical Center, part of the Atlantic Health System.

Bridge to Transplant Therapies

For some people, a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) or a total artificial heart can help maintain or improve your overall health while you wait for a donor heart. These “bridge to transplant” therapies are provided by our transplant surgeons and doctors from NYU Langone’s Heart Failure Advanced Care Center.

Left Ventricular Assist Device

Before a transplant, our cardiac experts may recommend that you receive an LVAD, a small electric pump that is connected to your heart to help it pump blood. If you are considered ineligible for a heart transplant, our team may recommend using an LVAD as a destination, or lifelong, therapy. The process to qualify for destination therapy is similar to the evaluation process for a heart transplant.

Total Artificial Heart

A total artificial heart can be another treatment option for people with advanced heart failure. Unlike an LVAD, which supports only the heart’s left ventricle, a total artificial heart replaces both ventricles and takes over all the work of pumping blood to the lungs and then out to the body. The device is connected to a portable external console, which can be used outside of the hospital.

Heart Transplant Candidacy

If our team determines that a heart transplant is the best treatment option for you, we help you prepare for candidacy. Our transplant nurse coordinator places you on the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) national waiting list. You are then assigned a heart transplant status, which is based on how urgently you need a heart.

After you have been placed on the waiting list for a donor heart, you need to be prepared for surgery whenever a heart becomes available. The wait time for a heart varies and depends on your blood type, body size, medical urgency, and other factors.

When a suitable heart becomes available, you are admitted to the hospital if you have been waiting at home and prepared for heart transplant surgery.

After Heart Transplant Surgery

In the months after your transplant, you have frequent checkups with our team. At these checkups, our experts make sure you are doing well, adjust your medications as needed, and monitor you for infections or other complications.

After your transplant, you also have heart biopsies—more frequent in the beginning and then gradually less often—so that our team can make sure your new heart is not being rejected.

Our team is dedicated to your success and support after your heart transplant. Your care team continues to see you regularly after surgery for as long as needed.