Newark, NJ (May 18, 2022) – The Advanced Heart Failure Treatment and Transplant team at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center celebrated the longest-living person in New Jersey on a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), a mechanical heart pump.
Mayra Rodriguez, 42, from Union County, NJ, celebrated her 14th anniversary living with an Abbott HeartMate II™ Left Ventricular Assist Device, a mechanical heart pump that helps the heart pump blood from the left ventricle to the aorta and the rest of the body.
Mayra Rodriguez is now the longest-living person in New Jersey with an LVAD and one of the longest-living LVAD patients in the country. Only 40 patients in the United States have lived more than 14 years with this device.
“I am so thankful to the team at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, I don’t have enough words to express how fortunate I feel to be here today and to have spent the last 14 years enjoying my life with my family,” said Mayra Rodriguez.
“It has been a privilege to watch Mayra progress over the last 14 years. When we met her, she was critically ill but thanks to the innovative clinical care she received, her determination, and the support of her family, Mayra is here with us today celebrating this milestone,” said Margarita Camacho, MD FACS, Surgical Director, Cardiac Transplantation, Newark Beth Israel, RWJBH Medical Group.
“Our Advanced Heart Failure Treatment and Transplant team is committed to delivering world class care. Our program is ranked among the top 15 in the country, and it is phenomenal accomplishments such as this one and incredible patients like Mayra who continue to inspire us all,” said Darrell K. Terry, Sr., President and Chief Executive Officer, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of New Jersey.
In 2005, Mayra was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She underwent chemotherapy that treated her cancer but severely damaged her heart. Then in 2007, after giving birth to her son, she was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. A year later, The Advanced Heart Failure Treatment and Transplant team at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center implanted an Abbott HeartMate II™ Left Ventricular Assist Device which her physicians expected to last only a few years. Today, Mayra is living an active life with the same device that was implanted 14 years ago; she enjoys watching her son grow up, bike riding, hiking, jogging, and running with her family.
LVADs were originally approved for use as a bridge to a heart transplant. Today close to 14,000 patients are living with an LVAD and it is also used as “Destination Therapy” for patients like Mayra, who are medically ineligible for heart transplant. In fact, Mayra is one of just 40 patients in the United States who have lived more than 14 years with the HeartMate II LVAD.
Approximately 6.2 million Americans are living with heart failure and 10 percent of them have advanced heart failure. However, donor hearts are few and far between. In 2020, only 3,658 heart transplants were performed in the world.
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center’s world-renowned team of heart transplant surgeons and physicians offer a wealth of knowledge and experience serving the New Jersey and New York metropolitan area. Their Advanced Heart Failure Treatment and Transplant program ranks among the top 15 programs in the country and has performed more than 1,100 heart transplants; featured on 2021 World’s Best Hospitals, The Joint Commission National Quality Approval, Patient Safety Excellence Award 2020, and more, Newark Beth Israel’s Advanced Heart Failure Treatment and Transplant program is a an innovation leader offering a comprehensive, personalized approach to the treatment of advanced heart failure and heart transplant.
About Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility is a 665-bed regional care teaching hospital that provides comprehensive health care. Newark Beth Israel is a Top Teaching Hospital and home to one of the nation’s top 15 heart transplant centers, which has performed more than 1,100 heart transplants; RWJBarnabas Health’s Heart Failure Treatment and Transplant Program; New Jersey’s only Advanced Lung Disease and Transplant Program and a Valve Center that performs complex cardiac valve procedures, including minimally invasive transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVRs). Newark Beth Israel Medical Center is also home to Children’s Hospital of New Jersey (CHoNJ), which cares for children from birth through adolescence, with more than 30 specialized pediatric services including New Jersey’s largest Valerie Fund Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders; and the Children’s Heart Center that offers a complete range of medical and surgical treatments for the most complex cardiac abnormalities. The Newark Beth Israel robotic surgery program is the most experienced in northern New Jersey. RWJBarnabas Health and The Frederick B. Cohen, MD, Comprehensive Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey Breast Health Center, in partnership with Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey – the state's only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center – brings a world class team of researchers and specialists to fight alongside you, providing close-to-home access to the latest treatment and clinical trials. Newark Beth Israel also offers many preventive health programs that promote wellness in the community, including The Beth Greenhouse, which provides access to fresh produce and health and wellness education to local residents.