The Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) Program at UPMC Celebrates its 40th Anniversary
October 7, 2025
On Oct. 24, 1985, UPMC surgeons implanted the nation’s second Jarvik Artificial Heart as a bridge to transplant. Since then, the Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) Program at UPMC has pioneered VAD technology, enhanced existing circulatory support devices, and improved the lives of numerous patients with end stage heart failure.
“As our program celebrates its 40th anniversary, we look back at the milestones our team has achieved and the lives that we’ve impacted,” says Gavin Hickey, MD, medical director of the Ventricular Assist Device Program at UPMC. “These devices offer hope to patients in end stage heart failure who are awaiting a heart transplant or serve as a destination therapy when transplant isn’t an option.”
The Ventricular Assist Device Program at UPMC is an established leader in VAD technology, achieving groundbreaking milestones throughout the years.
- In 1990, UPMC became the first center in the world to discharge a patient on a ventricular assist device.
- In 1996, a woman who received a VAD as a bridge to transplant became the first patient of that kind at UPMC to give birth.
- Since the program’s inception, our team has implanted more than 1,300 devices.
- In the recent INTERMACS report from July 1, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2024, our program achieved a 95.7% survival rate for VADs.
“At the VAD Program, our goal is to improve patients’ quality of life with these cardiac assist devices,” says Dr. Hickey. “Our cardiologists and cardiac surgeons work alongside APP’s, biomedical engineers, VAD coordinators, nursing, physical, occupational, and respiratory therapists, and social workers, to design a treatment plan individualized to meet each patient’s needs.”
Throughout its 40 years, the VAD Program at UPMC has maintained a strong legacy of clinical excellence and innovation. Through our partners at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, our program continues to enhance research for VAD technology to improve patient outcomes and quality of life after implantation. This model has influenced numerous circulatory support device programs across the country.
“Our program has served as a national training center for medical centers implementing certain VAD programs,” says Dr. Hickey. “To date, approximately 60 centers throughout the United States have sent teams of specialists to Pittsburgh for training exercises led by our artificial heart and VAD team.”
Our team remains at the forefront of advancing patient care through the use of implantable cardiac devices. From implanting the Jarvik Artificial Heart in 1985 to today's advanced circulatory support devices, the VAD Program at UPMC continually sets the standard in technological innovation and clinical excellence.
To learn more, or refer a patient, email cttransplant@upmc.edu.
