ATLANTA – Emory Healthcare has been named one of the nation’s leading providers in caring for patients who require left ventricular assist device or LVAD implantation for the 5th year in a row. The health system currently ranks top five in the nation for LVAD implantation, with 108 patients implanted in 2025.
“We achieved a historic milestone, recording the highest volume of LVAD implants ever performed in the history of the Emory University program. This accomplishment reflects our unwavering commitment to advancing patient care, offering renewed hope and life-saving opportunities to those we serve,” says Emory Healthcare cardiologist, Mahmoud Abdou, MD. Abdou is also the medical director for Emory Healthcare's LVAD program and an assistant professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine.
A left ventricular assist device is a battery-operated mechanical pump that helps the heart pump blood throughout the body. LVADs can help improve a patient’s quality of life for those with end-stage heart failure or for those waiting for a heart transplant.
Emory’s LVAD program received a ‘Gold Seal of Approval’ by the Joint Commission and is only one of two certified programs of its kind in Georgia. They also remain the nation’s leader for enrolling patients in the INNOVATE trial that is evaluating the use of the BrioVAD for patients with advanced heart. BrioVAD is a smaller, fully magnetically levitated ventricular assist device. Emory has currently enrolled 19 patients in the trial.
“We are moving the needle in terms of people and giving them hope for another chance at life with cutting edge research,” says Abdou.
