Drs. Mandeep Mehra (left) and Bartley Griffith review a fluoroscopic image in the catheterization laboratory.
It was Saturday, Dec. 8, 2001, a day that signaled the start of major advances in cardiac care at the University of Maryland. For Bartley P. Griffith, M.D., professor and head of cardiac surgery at Maryland, it was the end of his first week on the job. Late the night before, he had received an urgent call from doctors at Baltimore Washington Medical Center that led to unprecedented preparations for emergency surgery.
Advanced cardiac care was needed, STAT, to save a man with a heart so weak that if he had waited just two more hours to come to the emergency room, he would have died.
Dr. Griffith, chief of cardiac surgery and director of heart and lung transplantation at the University of Maryland Medical Center, immediately put in a rush order for two heart pumps, then quickly assembled and briefed a team on the procedure they would perform — a first for the medical center.
At the end of the day, both devices were stabilizing the pumping action on the left and right sides of the man's heart. This dual-pump surgery saved the man's life and kept him healthy long enough for a successful heart transplant two months later. The patient, Robert Bothe, continues to do well today.
"Without the pumps, Mr. Bothe would have died from the effects of shock. One of the key things we've learned is that if you institute these pumps early enough, you can prevent irreversible damage to the brain, the lungs and the kidneys," Dr. Griffith said shortly after the procedure.
Mr. Bothe and other heart patients are benefiting from an explosion in new patient care innovations and research initiatives at the University of Maryland Heart Center, driven by two internationally renowned cardiac care specialists, both recognized clinical and research leaders.
Mandeep R. Mehra, M.D., professor of medicine and head of cardiology, joined the Medical Center in 2005. He came from the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans, La., where he was vice chair for clinical and academic affairs in cardiovascular medicine and chief of cardiomyopathy and heart transplantation at the Ochsner Multi-Organ Transplant Center.
Dr. Griffith's creative action in that early case set the stage for his approach to patient care at the Maryland Heart Center. Dr. Griffith came to the University of Maryland from the University of Pittsburgh, where he had established a worldwide reputation as a pioneer in heart and lung transplantation, with vast experience in the implantation and development of heart pumps for a wide range of patients with end-stage heart failure. His leadership has inspired the center's multidisciplinary team to develop innovative treatments and become nationally known for advanced treatment of most heart problems.
The dual-pump therapy was soon followed by a first for the nation. Dr. Griffith implanted a new, experimental heart pump, the Jarvik 2000, in two people who became the first in the United States to go home from the hospital with the pump to await a heart transplant. Until then, FDA regulations required Jarvik 2000 patients to remain in the hospital to await a donor heart.
The "firsts" continued with another dramatic heart surgery to save the life of a woman with a rare recurring heart tumor. In a first-of-its-kind solution for her vexing problem, Dr. Griffith completely removed both of her heart's upper chambers (the left and right atria), then reconstructed them with animal and human donor tissue. To make this possible, the woman's heart was removed from her chest for about five hours before being re-implanted.
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