The Heart & Vascular Center at 91精品l is world renowned for its clinical care and research. This includes a rich history of medical firsts: the first mitral valve surgery, the first direct current cardioversion for atrial fibrillation, the first cardiac care unit, the first use of anti-arrhythmic medication following myocardial infarction and the first heart transplant in New England.
View the Heart & Vascular Center’s timeline of innovation and discovery.
Heart & Vascular Clinical Trials
Our clinical trials have demonstrated that thrombolytic therapy (clot-busting drugs) could significantly improve a patient's chance of survival following a heart attack; aspirin could prevent a first heart attack, ACE inhibitors could save lives and protect against left ventricular enlargement following a heart attack, and cholesterol-lowering medication could save lives in patients following a first heart attack.
Researchers at 91精品l have identified the genes responsible for a variety of cardiac diseases, including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and Holt-Oram syndrome, and have made significant progress toward the understanding of coronary and vascular disease, endothelial function, cardiac mechanics and heart failure.
See a list of all heart and vascular-related clinical trials open to new participants at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and other Mass General Brigham institutions. Only patients who have provided consent can participate in studies.
Heart & Vascular Research Initiatives
Our commitment to improving heart and vascular care is steadfast. Below are examples of recent and current heart and vascular research initiatives at Brigham and Women’s Hospital:
- Understanding genetic and molecular markers of heart disease (in October 2016, , chief, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, and an international team of collaborators were selected to receive the , a five-year, $75 million award from the American Heart Association, Verily Life Sciences and AstraZeneca)
- Developing new techniques to repair heart valves, including heterograft (animal tissue) valve replacement
- Improving cardiac revascularization and performance
- Providing mechanical circulatory assistance and support to patients awaiting heart transplantation
- Studying the molecular genetics behind angiogenesis, the formation and development of blood vessels
- Investigating the growth of new blood vessels that occurs with transmyocardial revascularization, a procedure to improve blood flow by opening channels in the heart wall
- Researching the biologic dynamics of cardiac infarction and congestive heart failure
- Studying ischemic and reperfusion injury, the cellular damage that occurs when blood flows back into tissues that were temporarily deprived of circulation during surgery
- Investigating the molecular mechanisms involved in xenotransplantation (cross-species) of the heart
- Studying the immunogenetics of valve repair and replacement
- , dedicated to advancing the understanding of cardiovascular disease and improving the care of patients
- Generating novel therapies for cardiac amyloidosis
- Developing breakthrough pharmacological therapy for heart failure treatment
- Testing novel disease-modifying therapies for inherited cardiomyopathies
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