Research

Dr. Elizabeth Lee presenting her research at the Heart Failure Society of America Annual Meeting in 2019

Dr. James Youssef presenting his research at the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation Annual Meeting in 2019

Heart Failure research is a key component of the internationally renowned Clinical Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Rochester. The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) LVAD database is the focal point of research in the Heart Failure Section. Containing data on over 400 patients receiving an LVAD implant at URMC, our LVAD database has enabled us to perform leading outcomes research in LVAD patients. Research has focused on predictors of survival in LVAD patients, the impact of diabetes on outcomes in LVAD patients, and the impact of adverse events including stroke, infection, bleeding and hospitalizations on outcomes in LVAD patients.

The surgical team at URMC was the first in the United States to implant the HeartMate 3 LVAD via a bilateral thoracotomy approach. This has also been a central point of our research program. We also have collected cardiac tissue from over 250 patients at the time of LVAD implant or cardiac transplant. This has enabled us to perform translational research studying changes in gene expression with heart failure. Working with our Electrophysiology and Cardio-Oncology teams, arrhythmia and cardio-oncology related research are also important aspects of our research program.

In addition, we have obtained research grant funding for multiple investigator-initiated prospective studies in LVAD patients. We have also been highly successful in enrolling patients in many national clinical trials of LVAD patients.

Our advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology fellows have presented research at national and international meetings including the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, Heart Failure Society of America, and Heart Rhythm Society Annual Meetings.

Selected Recent Publications

Vidula H, Cheyne C, Martens J, Gosev I, Zareba W, Goldenberg I. Telehealth for the Management of Left Ventricular Assist Device Patients. J Card Fail. 2021 Jan;27(1):112-113.

Vidula H, Lee E, McNitt S, Polonsky B, Aktas M, Rosero S, Younis A, Solomon SD, Zareba W, Kutyifa V, Goldenberg I. Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy and Risk of Recurrent Hospitalizations in Patients Without Left Bundle Branch Block: The Long-Term Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial With Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy. Circ Heart Fail. 2020 Jul 1.

Lee EC, McNitt S, Martens J, Bruckel JT, Chen L, Alexis JD, Storozynsky E, Thomas S, Gosev I, Barrus B, Goldenberg I, Vidula H. Long-term Milrinone Therapy as a Bridge to Heart Transplantation: Safety, Efficacy, and Predictors of Failure. Int J Cardiol. 2020 15;313:83-88.

Gosev I, Wood K, Ayers B, Barrus B, Knight P, Alexis JD, Vidula H, Lander H, Wyrobek J, Cheyne C, Goldenberg I, McNitt S, Prasad S. Implantation of a Fully Magnetically Levitated Left Ventricular Assist Device Using a Sternal-Sparing Surgical Technique. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2020;39(1): 37-44.

Kutyifa V, Naqvi SY, Vidula V, Thomas S, Sherazi S, Papernov A, McNitt S, Alexis JD. Clinical Significance of Early Hospital Readmission in Continuous Flow Left Ventricular Assist Device Patients. ASAIO J. 2020; 66(7):760-765.

Seif E, Sherazi S, Bravo-Jaimes K, Cheyne C, Alexis JD. Driving Pulseless: A Driving Survey of Patients With Left Ventricular Assist Devices and Their Providers. J Card Fail. 2019; 25(3):220-221.