Posts by David A. D'Alessandro, MD
-
Mass General Performs Its First Bloodless Heart Transplant
Massachusetts General Hospital's Heart Transplant Program completed its first bloodless heart transplant on a Jehovah's Witness patient using blood-conserving methods.
-
Multicenter Trial Supports Transplantation of Hearts Donated After Circulatory Death
David A. D'Alessandro, MD, and colleagues found that six-month survival was similar in patients who received donor hearts that were reanimated and assessed with extracorporeal nonischemic perfusion after circulatory death and those whose donor hearts were preserved with cold storage after brain death.
-
Ex Vivo Perfusion and Transplantation of Hearts Donated After Circulatory Death Is Safe and Effective
Massachusetts General Hospital researchers found transplantation of hearts donated after circulatory death and preserved with a proprietary ex vivo warm perfusion system was safe and effective compared with control subjects who received hearts donated after brain death. The one-year survival rate was 97%.
-
DCD Donor Hearts Safely Expand Donor Organ Pool
Massachusetts General Hospital is one of five donation after circulatory death (DCD) heart transplant centers in the U.S., investigating DCD donor hearts for transplantation.
-
Opinion: Now's the Time to Identify Candidates for Pig-to-Human Heart Transplantation
Now that cardiac xenotransplantation appears to be within reach, physicians are considering what groups of patients with life-threatening cardiac disease might be ethically appropriate to be offered participation in the initial clinical trials.
-
Mass General Surgeons Pioneer Transplant Surgery with DCD Donor Hearts
The first-ever heart transplant using a donation after circulatory death (DCD) donor heart in New England was recently performed at Massachusetts General Hospital.
-
Prior Sternotomy Linked to Worse Survival After Cardiac Transplantation
A history of sternotomy is a risk factor for worse survival after cardiac transplantation, cardiac surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital determined after reviewing nationwide data.
-
Heart Transplantation in Patient with Loeys-Dietz Syndrome Proves Successful
Adding to the increasing success of heart transplantation in patients with connective tissue disorders, cardiac surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital published the first reported case of a successful heart transplantation in an individual with Loeys-Dietz syndrome.
-
Innovation Increases Availability of Hearts and Lungs for Transplant
Warm perfusion and careful selection of marginal organs allow Mass General transplant teams to save more lives.
-
The Promise of Ventricular-Assist Devices (VADs)
VAD technology is continually improving. Mass General data indicates new VADs improve 5-year survival rates. Trials for the latest generation are under way.
Biography
David A. D'Alessandro, MD, is a Member of Faculty at Harvard Medical School. He is also the surgical director of Heart Transplantation and Ventricular Assist Devices in the Division of Cardiac Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. He received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and completed his medical education at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. He completed his residency in general surgery, a fellowship in renal transplantation and clinical and research fellowships in cardiothoracic surgery at the Columbia University Medical Center in New York. He has focused his clinical interests on surgical treatments of end stage heart failure including mechanical assistance and heart transplantation. He has broad experience with all aspects of adult cardiothoracic surgery including on and off pump coronary artery bypass surgery, valve repair and replacement, and the treatment thoracic aneurysms. Additionally, he has extensive experience with acute and chronic mechanical circulatory support devices including the latest generation of mechanical assist devices.
Cardiovascular Care at Mass General
At Mass General, our world-class physicians and nurses specialize in specific forms of both heart and vascular disease, and work closely together to offer leading treatments and preventive care for cardiovascular conditions.