Smidt Heart Institute 2023: Innovation, Technology, Discovery
Annual Report Details Latest Advances in Specialized Care, Treatment, Research
The 2023 Annual Report from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai details the innovative ways in which its cardiologists, cardiac surgeons and specialized care teams are treating the full spectrum of cardiovascular disease, while its investigators are advancing progress in lifesaving research.
More than 45,000 outpatients received care during fiscal year 2022 from Smidt’s expert teams skilled in advanced heart disease, valve diseases, congenital heart disease, coronary disease, women’s heart disease, hypertension and beyond. Notably, more heart and lung transplants were performed at the Smidt Heart Institute than ever before.
“Providing exceptional care for patients dealing with the most complex and challenging conditions is what drives us and pushes our science forward,” wrote Eduardo Marbán, MD, PhD, executive director of the Smidt Heart Institute, professor of Cardiology and the Mark Siegel Family Foundation Distinguished Chair, in the report’s introduction. “Year after year, our outstanding multidisciplinary experts strive to reach new levels of excellence in clinical care, education and research.”
Highlights of the complete 2023 Annual Report include:
Advanced Heart Disease
More than 18,000 patients with heart failure are treated at the Smidt Heart Institute each year, and they experience among the best outcomes in the nation—the heart failure mortality rate at Cedars-Sinai is 5.7%, well below the 11.2% national rate. This, thanks to skilled physicians, tailored treatment plans and leading-edge therapies. Additionally, the opportunity to participate in clinical trials means that patients can help investigators develop new treatments to improve heart disease patients’ quality of life.
Heart and Lung Transplant
Surgeons in the Smidt Heart Institute perform more thoracic organ transplants than any other U.S. hospital. Averaging 120 heart transplants per year, Smidt heart transplant patients experience a one-year survival rate of more than 92%.
In collaboration with the Comprehensive Transplant Center, the Smidt Heart Institute also has developed a leading program for state-of-the-art lung transplantation. Surgeons performed 70 minimally invasive and robotic-assisted lung transplants for adults with end-stage lung disease in fiscal year 2022.
Valve Replacement and Repair
The Smidt Heart Institute is one of only 22 American Heart Association-designated Mitral Valve Repair Reference Centers in the U.S. Its interventionalists—pioneers in minimally invasive valve procedures—have performed more than 1,500 robotic mitral prolapse repairs since 2017 with a greater than 99% success rate.
Additionally, the institute’s interventionalists have successfully completed more than 5,000 minimally invasive transcatheter aortic valve replacements to date, with more than 650 performed in fiscal year 2022.
Women’s Heart Disease
Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of women in the U.S., driving clinician-scientists at the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center in the Smidt Heart Institute to become international leaders in research that has uncovered the sex-based differences in women’s heart disease and physiology.
One key area of study: testing whether standard therapy used for obstructive coronary artery disease is effective for women who have chest pain but no obstructions in the major arteries leading to the heart. Men more typically experience a buildup of plaque in their arteries, an obstruction that can cause heart attacks.
Congenital Heart Disease
The institute’s Guerin Family Congenital Heart Program recently marked a decade of patient care, ensuring that patients with congenital heart disease can be effectively treated from infancy to adulthood, all in one place and by the same team of nurses and physicians. The Smidt Heart Institute is now pioneering the use of a “stent for life” that is small enough for babies but flexible enough to expand with growing vessels as children age into adulthood.
Research Highlights
Smidt Heart Institute faculty continue to serve as principal investigators on research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH); editors of top academic journals; lead investigators on pivotal clinical trials; and leaders of consensus statements and scientific sessions.
In 2021-22, investigators authored more than 500 podium research presentations and peer-reviewed manuscripts. Federal research funding for the Smidt Heart Institute topped $161 million in 2021-22, with investigators receiving more than $23 million in new grant funding from the NIH.
Cedars-Sinai was recently named to U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals 2023-24" Honor Roll for the eighth consecutive year and tied for #1 in California and Los Angeles.
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