Heart Transplant Outcomes

At a Glance

• First transplant: 04/23/85
• Transplants performed in 2024: 27
• Total number of program transplants through 2024: 701
• Number of VADs in 2023: 43
• Received medicare approval: 8/2/1988

Outcomes

• Median time to transplant<: 2.4 months (compared with 2.6 months nationally)
• Pre-transplant mortality~: 6.6 (expected 9.4, national 8.1)
• Mechanical devices at time of transplant#: 87.1%

Patient survival rates for heart transplant:*

• Henry Ford one-year patient survival rate: 94%
• Henry Ford one-year expected patient survival rate^: 92.81%
• Henry Ford three-year patient survival rate: 88.5%
• Henry Ford three-year expected patient survival rate^: 83.51%

Graft survival rate for heart transplant:+

• Henry Ford one-year graft survival rate: 92.7%
• Henry Ford one-year expected graft survival rate^: 92.16%
• Henry Ford three-year graft survival rate^: 88.7%
• Henry Ford three-year expected graft survival rate^: 84.9%

< Candidates registered on the waiting list between 07/01/2018 and 12/31/2023
~ Patients on the waitlist between 07/01/2023 - 06/30/2024 
# Patients transplanted between 07/01/2023 and 06/30/2024. Devices include ventricular assist devices (VAD), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), intraaortic balloon pump (IABP), and total artificial heart (TAH).
*Estimated probability of surviving at one year, for patients receiving their first transplant 07/01/2021 and 12/31/2023; and at three years, for patients receiving their first transplant between 01/01/2019 and 03/12/2020, and 06/13/2020 and 06/30/2021.
^ Adjusted for patient and donor characteristics
+ Estimated probability of surviving with a functioning graft at one year, for patients receiving their first transplant between 07/01/2021 and 12/31/2023; and at three years, for patients receiving their first transplant between 01/01/2019 and 03/12/2020, and 06/13/2020 and 06/30/2021.

Source: Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, Center and OPO-specific Reports, based on data available October 31, 2024, released January 7, 2025.

Milestones in Heart Transplantation

Several “firsts” were performed at Henry Ford Hospital:

• First in Detroit to perform a heart transplant (1985)
• Among the first in the United States to offer the HeartMate® and HeartMate II® ventricular assist devices as a bridge to heart transplantation
• First in Michigan to perform an adult heart-liver transplant (2015)
• First in Detroit to implant a total artificial heart (2017)
• First in Michigan to perform a heart-liver-kidney transplant (2018)