Memorial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute-Texas Medical Center

Highlights & Innovations

Since 1927, researchers and clinicians at Memorial Herman-Texas Medical Center (TMC) have been quietly bringing groundbreaking discoveries in heart and vascular treatments from the laboratory to the bedside. From research isolating the genetic origins of life-threatening thoracic aortic aneurysms to advanced imaging technology that allows cardiologists to detect heart disease early enough to reverse it, the new Heart & Vascular Institute-TMC continues to build upon its strong track record of innovation leading to outstanding outcomes and is poised to become one of the nation’s leading heart and vascular hospitals.

The first cardiac catheterization in Texas was performed here in 1947, and that same spirit of innovation in cardiovascular care continues today. The Heart & Vascular Institute-TMC was the first in the world to perform robotic-assisted reconstructive aortic surgery, the first in the world to show that heart disease can be reversed, the first in Texas to give patients clot-dissolving drugs to stop heart attacks, the first in Texas to offer cardiac risk screening designed specifically for women and the first in Houston to perform minimally invasive surgery to correct atrial fibrillation.

Thanks to the lifesaving heart attack treatment developed by physicians at the Institute, we’ve reduced the average time it takes to open blocked arteries and restore blood flow to the heart to well below the Joint Commission standard of 90 minutes, saving lives and reducing damage to the heart. Our successes have brought us national recognition. For the third consecutive year, the Institute is the only Houston hospital named among the nation’s top 100 for cardiovascular care by Thomson Healthcare, formerly Solucient.

Our role as the primary teaching facility for the cardiology, cardiothoracic and vascular surgery programs at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston ensures our patients access to leading-edge programs and technology, backed by a commitment to excellence in care and research. As faculty members at the UT Medical School, physicians on our staff serve as principal investigators in national and international research trials, giving our patients access new medical therapies, innovative devices and technology very quickly after their introduction.

From bedside patient registration to private rooms, our new hospital was designed with direct input from our patients. The eight-story, 147 patient room facility offers physicians and patients access to proven and emerging electronic technology. Integrated imaging capability allows physicians to view diagnostic studies simultaneously in the cath lab, OR, conference room and patient rooms. Hotel services for family members, a patient-family zone in each room and concierge services ensure that our patients receive care in a first-class healing environment.

Innovations

• Memorial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute-TMC is the only hospital in Houston and one of only three in Texas chosen to participate in the nationwide Endovascular Valve Edge-to-Edge Repair Study, or EVEREST II, investigating the minimally invasive Evalve® Cardiovascular Valve Repair System for the treatment of mitral regurgitation (MR).
• Through a new use of valvuloplasty – insertion of a special balloon into a narrowed mitral valve – interventional cardiologists at the Institute may delay surgery in mitral stenosis patients for eight to 10 years.
• Our PATCAR protocol speeds up the time in which heart attack patients receive lifesaving thrombolytic drugs, making us one of the city’s top hospitals in door-to-balloon times.
• We’re one of 40 clinical sites in the United States for the trial of the Tandem Heart Left Ventricle Assist Device, which provides circulatory support during high-risk coronary procedures, decreasing stress on a damaged heart.
• In electrophysiology, our innovative use of minimally invasive maze surgery has a high success rate in stopping atrial fibrillation, allowing patients to return to work in a few days, compared to four to six weeks for the traditional open-heart maze procedure.
• The first PET scanner capable of imaging the entire heart was developed at the Weatherhead PET Center for Preventing and Reversing Atherosclerosis in 1979, and PET imaging remains the most accurate technology for identifying early or advanced blood flow abnormalities in the heart, including minor changes caused by early coronary artery disease.
• Research at the Weatherhead PET Center has shown that an intense program of cholesterol-lowering medications and lifestyle change reduces the risk of death or heart attack and the need for angioplasty or bypass surgery by 80 to 90 percent in patients identified with early, asymptomatic coronary artery disease, compared to patients not participating in the program.
• For patients with refractory congestive heart failure, we offer atrial synchronized biventricular pacemaker therapy or cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), an innovative new treatment for patients whose disease has progressed.
• Cutting and spreading the breastbone for valve repair and replacement extends healing time and increases the risk of infection and complications. Our Minimally Invasive Valve Program is unique in Houston in its primary focus on less-invasive approaches to valve surgery.
• Our surgeons are renowned for their skill in thoracic abdominal aneurysm (TAA) repair, an extremely complex procedure. Surgical methods used by the Memorial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute-TMC team since 1992 have dramatically reduced the incidence of paralysis following TAA repair from 15 percent to less than 3 percent.