Heart Transplant

California Pacific Medical Center has been at the forefront of cardiovascular medical and surgical services for over fifty years. Since surgeons at California Pacific performed the nation’s first heart transplant in a private hospital in 1984, we have performed over 385 heart transplants—many on high-risk patients. Additionally, throughout the 80’s and 90’s, we participated in pioneering work in developing Ventricular Assist Devices (VADs)—and was the first center in the world to successfully bridge a patient to transplant and discharge using VADs. Since then, 150 VADs have been successfully implanted at California Pacific for bridge-to-transplant, bridge-to-recovery and permanent support, also known as destination therapy. In fact, we were one of the nation’s first medical centers to successfully wean a patient off of mechanical circulatory support.

We are committed to providing the highest quality of care and publicly reporting our transplant outcomes. The graphs below show two markers of transplant quality: patient survival and graft survival.

Total Waitlisted Heart Transplant Patients (as of January 20, 2010)*:

  • United States = 3,042

  • California = 219

  • CPMC = 13
*Source: Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN)

Patient Survival  |  Graft Survival

Patient Survival


Heart Transplant: Patient Survival. Percentage of Patients Surviving at End of Period. 1 Month (Patients receiving transplant between 7/1/06 and 12/31/08) = 91.7% (CPMC - Observed), 96.3% (CPMC - Expected). 95.5% (United States). 1 Year (Patients receiving transplant between 7/1/06 and 12/31/08) = 75.0% (CPMC - Observed), 90.2% (CPMC - Expected). 88.5% (United States). 3 Years (Patients receiving transplant between 1/1/04 and 6/30/06) = 75.0% (CPMC - Observed), 82.0% (CPMC - Expected). 81.3% (United States). Source: Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients

How does California Pacific's survival compare to what is expected for similar patients?

  • 1 Month = Not significantly different

  • 1 Year = Not significantly different

  • 3 Years = Not significantly different
Heart patient survival is calculated at the 1 month mark following transplant, the 1 year mark and the 3 year milestone. The graph above shows the patient survival rate of transplanted patients at each milestone at California Pacific, and also shows the survival rate seen in the United States.
  • The "observed" value is the patient survival rate for each milestone as experienced at California Pacific.

  • The "expected" value is calculated based on transplant patient and donor characteristics which take factors such as age and patient diagnosis into consideration. The expected patient survival rate is the patient survival rate we would expect to see based on our patient and donor population's characteristics.

Back to top

Graft Survival


Heart Transplant: Graft Survival. Percentage of Patients Surviving at End of Period. 1 Month (Patients receiving transplant between 7/1/06 and 12/31/08) = 92.3% (CPMC - Observed), 95.7% (CPMC - Expected). 95.1% (United States). 1 Year (Patients receiving transplant between 7/1/06 and 12/31/08) = 76.9% (CPMC - Observed), 89.1% (CPMC - Expected). 87.9% (United States). 3 Years (Patients receiving transplant between 1/1/04 and 6/30/06) = 76.9% (CPMC - Observed), 81.3% (CPMC - Expected). 80.4% (United States). Source: Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients

How does California Pacific's survival compare to what is expected for similar patients?

  • 1 Month = Not significantly different

  • 1 Year = Not significantly different

  • 3 Years = Not significantly different
Heart patient graft survival looks at whether the patient's transplanted organ is functioning at the above milestones.

Learn more about our Heart Transplant Program.

Back to top