The UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute is a recognized leader in cardiovascular care, with a rich history in clinical research and innovation.
We're proud of the contributions and accomplishments that have allowed us to improve the lives of many of our patients.
Accomplishments and Experience
As one of the first heart transplant centers in the United States, UPMC has made significant contributions to the advancement of cardiovascular medicine.
- UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside is nationally ranked in cardiology and heart surgery by U.S. News & World Report.
- UPMC was the first hospital to successfully discharge a patient with a ventricular-assist device (VAD).
- Our surgeons implanted one of the first left VADs into the heart cavity instead of in the abdomen — a less invasive surgery with a lower risk for bleeding and infection.
- UPMC cardiac surgeons performed the first minimally invasive direct coronary bypass (MIDCAB) graft in the tristate (Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia) region.
- Experts in our Division of Vascular Surgery specialize in minimally invasive procedures, which many of our faculty helped to pioneer for the treatment of the entire vascular system.
- UPMC's Cardiac Catheterization Program is one of the nation's largest in terms of patient volume. Our experts are leaders in performing diagnostic and interventional procedures.
- Hospitals across the UPMC footprint were among the first in the nation to provide transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), an advanced, minimally invasive cardiac procedure.
- UPMC became the first center in western Pennsylvania to offer the WATCHMAN™ device for stroke prevention in select patients with atrial fibrillation.
- The UPMC Heart and Lung Transplant Program is one of the few nationwide to have performed more than 1,400 adult cardiac transplants and 1,600 adult lung or heart-lung transplants — making it one of the most experienced in the world.
- Our Artificial Heart Program is one of the nation’s oldest and most active over the past 20 years treating patients with mechanical circulatory support devices.
- UPMC became the first center in Western Pennsylvania to use a fully dissolving heart stent, the first of its kind approved by the FDA.
- UPMC has been awarded the highest possible rating of three stars in four cardiac procedures across four different UPMC locations by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS).
- UPMC hospitals in Central Pa.'s Community Osteopathic, Harrisburg and West Shore received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award
Innovative Therapies and Research
Our clinicians, surgeons, and physician researchers are exploring and employing the latest technologies and treatments to find new and better ways to treat our patients.
