Heart Care

Diseases of the heart and blood vessels are the leading cause of death and disability in men and women in the United States. Some 21 million people in the country suffer from heart and vascular disease, killing more than 500,000 people each year. The doctors and scientists at UCSF Medical Center are working to reduce those staggering numbers for adults and children.

The UCSF Heart and Vascular Center brings together cardiologists, cardiac and vascular surgeons, interventional radiologists and other specialists to provide the most advanced and effective treatments, many of them developed right here at UCSF Medical Center. We're are tackling heart and vascular disease from several fronts — from prevention and screening to the newest treatments for heart and vascular problems.

Our experts have been pioneers in treatment and research for conditions and procedures such as:

• Arrhythmia
• Congenital Heart Disease
• Coronary Artery Disease
• Heart Failure
• Heart Transplants
• Lung Transplants
• Pulmonary Hypertension
• Vascular Disorders

Quality of Care

UCSF monitors and measures the treatments our patients receive and evaluates our performance against our own rigorous standards as well as industry benchmarks. Some of our programs that have been recognized for quality and innovation include:

• Catheter ablation, which revolutionized the way cardiologists treat heart rhythm disorders, was developed here. We remain at the forefront by evaluating drugs that may provide a "pharmacologic bridge" to heart transplants for patients who endure waits of up to two years for a donor heart. For our expertise in these complex heart transplants, we have been designated a Center of Excellence by the health insurance plans of Blue Cross and Blue Shield in California.

• In 2008, UCSF completed its 500th procedure in our heart and lung transplant programs. Data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients showed that UCSF exceeded national averages for expected survival rates of both heart and lung transplant patients.

• UCSF leads the nation for the speed that heart attack patients are treated in the Emergency Department with balloon angioplasty to open narrowed or blocked blood vessels of the heart. Patients are treated in less than an hour, considerably faster than the 90-minute benchmark of the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR)

• We opened the nation's first Asian Heart and Vascular Center, a cardiovascular care hub for the Asian community where primary care doctors and specialists can refer patients for treatment that is respectful of the cultural differences that distinguish the Asian population.

Appointments

If you would like to make an appointment with one of our specialists, a form is available to request an appointment.

For more information or to make an appointment, please call our heart and vascular services:

Read about our new Asian Heart and Vascular Center

Check out our Heart Disease Risk Predictor

See books recommended by the UCSF Heart and Vascular Center.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated December 17, 2008