UCLA performed its 2,000th heart transplant in June 2012, becoming the second program in the world and the first in the western United States to achieve this milestone.
A 59-year-old man from Riverside, California, who suffered from advanced dilated cardiomyopathy with secondary pulmonary hypertension, received the donated organ at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in a four-hour surgery led by Reshma Biniwale, M.D., assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery.
"It is extraordinary that 2,000 donor hearts have been transplanted at UCLA, giving new life and new hope to pediatric and adult patients ranging in age from two weeks to 77 years," says Abbas Ardehali, M.D., director of the UCLA Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program. "Not only is this historic occasion a time for celebration, it is also an opportunity to thank those thousands of organ donors and their loved ones who gave the precious gift of life."
Founded in 1984, UCLA's heart-transplant program has been a world leader in the field and was recognized in 2010 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the nation's best heart-transplant program.
