Heart transplant program

When your heart is no longer able to function properly, a heart transplant may be necessary. Cardiac transplantation has proven successful for many patients whose end-stage heart disease does not respond to medical management and other therapies. A national leader, Advocate Heart Institute is one of the nation's eight top heart transplant hospitals for patient outcomes.

What sets us apart:

Top doctors: Multi-disciplinary team of highly trained transplant specialists and mechanical device specialists
Comprehensive support: Expert care before, during and after your transplant surgery
National leader: One of the nation's top heart transplant programs
Alternatives to transplant: Home to the busiest VAD / LVAD programs in Chicagoland

A physician referral to the Advocate Transplant Program is required.

To refer a patient or to learn more, call 877-684-4327.

Conditions for heart transplantation

Our Advocate Transplant Program specialists consider heart transplantation as an option if you have one or more serious heart conditions, including:

Advanced coronary disease
Congenital cardiomyopathy
Congestive heart failure
Familial cardiomyopathy
Postpartum cardiomyopathy

Pulmonary hypertension
Radiation/chemotherapy induced cardiomyopathy
Valvular cardiomyopathy
Viral cardiomyopathy

Transplant alternative: ventricular assist device

If you have been ruled out as a candidate for heart transplantation, you have at least one other option to discuss with your cardiologist. Candidates whose condition is too critical to wait for a suitable donor, or who suffer from severe heart disease but are otherwise ineligible for transplantation, often can benefit from implantation of a ventricular assist device (VAD) as a bridge to transplant or on a permanent basis.

Advocate Heart Institute is home to the busiest VAD program in Illinois and one of the top five busiest VAD centers in the country. Our cardiac surgeons implant 100-125 ventricular assist devices (VADs / LVADs) each year, and our patients benefit from that experience.

Learn more about our VAD program.

Multidisciplinary approach

Advocate Heart Institute features expert transplant surgeons and cardiologists with training, work experience and/or leadership positions at well-established transplant programs around the country.

But, we recognize that transplantation outcomes often improve when a patient's heart care is supplemented with clinical attention in other areas. Our multidisciplinary team provides personalized care, including top physicians in:

Nephrology
Neuropsychiatry
Pulmonology
Cardiology

Cardiothoracic and vascular surgery
Endocrinology
Gastroenterology
Infectious disease

In addition to physicians, our team includes a dedicated social worker, dietician, financial coordinator, and nurse coordinators to help guide you through the transplant evaluation process. Contact a nurse coordinator to get answers to your questions, gather information or make an appointment.

Outstanding patient experience

A New Heart For Her Birthday

On her 41st birthday, Melody received the call she had been waiting for: she'd been matched to a donor heart, and her Advocate cardiac team was ready to proceed with transplantation.

Recognized for excellence

We are recognized by Becker's Hospital Review in "100 Hospitals and Health Systems with Great Heart Programs." Inclusion is based on recognition for clinical excellence for certain procedures (such as heart bypass and valve surgeries) and treatment of heart failure and heart attack patients.

Advocate Christ Medical Center, our Heart Transplant Program hospital, has also been recognized as high performing in cardiology and heart surgery by U.S. News & World Report in 2018.