Cleveland Clinic Florida at the forefront of heart care innovation

Heart disease claims approximately 655,000 lives each year in the United States and accounts for 1 in 4 deaths. That’s why having access to world-class heart and vascular care makes all the difference. Cleveland Clinic’s Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute in Florida, with locations from Weston to Vero Beach, provides the highest level of care and lifesaving treatment options in the region for patients with cardiovascular disease, leading the way against the No. 1 killer of Americans.

Exceptional heart care

Cleveland Clinic Florida offers cardiovascular services covering the full continuum of care for common and complex diseases of the heart and blood vessels. From preventive heart care and advanced diagnostic technologies to lifesaving surgical treatments including heart transplantation, highly skilled subspecialty-trained physicians deliver exceptional care for thousands of patients in the region and internationally each year.

Services include:

• Cardiology
• Cardiac amyloidosis
• Cardiac and thoracic surgery
• Cardiac electrophysiology and pacing
• Cardiac imaging
• Cardio-oncology
• Heart transplant and mechanical circulatory support
• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
• Structural and interventional cardiology
• Vascular medicine
• Vascular surgery

Collaborative model of care

Cleveland Clinic’s unique collaborative model of care, renowned nationally and internationally, is fostered by an organizational structure built around the patient’s health conditions rather than around the provider’s discipline. These patient-centered institutes combine medical, surgical and support functions into multidisciplinary teams to address specific body systems and disease processes, like heart and vascular care, to enhance continuity and quality of care.

Minimally invasive alternatives

Research and innovation have led to major advancements in cardiac care in recent years. Notably, strides have been made in the treatment of structural heart disease, including defects that may be present at birth or conditions that can develop from wear and tear on the heart, like valve stenosis and regurgitation. Similar techniques are providing new therapies for heart rhythm disorders, conditions that cause the heart to beat too fast, too slow or irregularly.

Minimally invasive transcatheter procedures and robotic-assisted surgery are now available as alternatives to open heart surgery for appropriate patients. That means less pain, often shorter hospital stays, an easier recovery and faster return to normal activities, among other benefits. Cleveland Clinic Florida offers the following innovative treatments and much more. 

• Transcatheter aortic valve replacement is a minimally invasive catheter-based procedure for treating aortic stenosis, a narrowing of the aortic valve opening that restricts blood flow from the heart to the body.
• Transcatheter mitral valve repair with MitraClip is a minimally invasive procedure used to treat a leaky mitral valve, which can lead to congestive heart failure or irregular heartbeats if left untreated.
• Catheter-based ablation is a non-surgical procedure that disconnects electrical pathways causing irregular heart rhythms, like atrial fibrillation, supraventricular tachycardia and ventricular tachycardia.
• Robotic-assisted AtriClip implantation is an alternative to the long-term use of blood thinners for reducing stroke risk in patients with atrial fibrillation, the most common heart rhythm disorder.

Heart failure experts

With congestive heart failure cases on the rise, Cleveland Clinic Florida also has an expert heart failure team dedicated to caring for this growing and vulnerable patient population. They are equipped to provide the diagnostics and medical and surgical therapies needed to stop or slow disease progression, control symptoms and improve quality of life. A destination for complex care, Cleveland Clinic Florida offers an array of advanced heart failure therapies including ventricular-assist support devices and temporary mechanical circulatory support.

For patients with severe heart failure who cannot be managed with medications or other surgical care, heart transplantation is the preferred treatment. Cleveland Clinic Florida’s heart transplant program was established in 2014 and has since performed more than 160 adult heart transplants, becoming one of the largest programs in Florida and one of the fastest-growing programs in the nation.

A growing body of research

Research is fundamental to the Cleveland Clinic mission, and the cardiovascular specialists at Cleveland Clinic Florida are contributing to that mission every day. They are engaged in clinical research focused on developing new treatments and improving quality outcomes, including in the areas of transcatheter valve procedures and heart failure. In 2020 alone, the team published more than 50 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals.

Convenient locations

Cleveland Clinic Florida’s cardiovascular care can be accessed at several locations across Broward and Palm Beach counties, including Cleveland Clinic Weston Hospital, ranked South Florida’s top hospital by U.S. News & World Report, 2020-21. Recognized as “high performing” in aortic valve surgery and heart failure by U.S. News, the hospital also has been designated a Center of Excellence by the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association. Cardiology consultations are available at Cleveland Clinic’s locations in Weston, Coral Springs, West Palm Beach, Wellington and Palm Beach Gardens.

Cleveland Clinic Florida is a leader in cardiovascular and thoracic care. Learn more at clevelandclinicflorida.org/heart.