For Patients
Welcome to the Cardiovascular Division of the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. This practice group brings together many of the world's leading experts in cardiovascular medicine and research.
Under the leadership of Mauro Moscucci, M.D., M.B.A., Clinical Vice Chairman for the Department of Mecicine and Chief of the Cardiovascular Division, our highly trained cardiologists provide consultation and the full range of cardiovascular procedures using the latest technology in our own state-of-the-art facilities, all to provide you with the highest quality of care. At all of our practice locations, high-technology and cutting-edge treatments are offered within a caring, thoughtful, patient-centered approach. Our home is the new University of Miami Hospital (UMH). We also see patients at other University of Miami locations, and at the Jackson Memorial Hospital (JMH).
Your Heart Team Offers Groundbreaking Procedures:
The UHealth Heart Team comprises physicians and researchers who have chosen our Cardiovascular Division as the place to continue their ground-breaking clinical care and research programs. The integration of quality care and research means that we can provide patients with access to today's most advanced treatments and tomorrow's potential cures.
Interventional Cardiology:
A team of internationally-prominent interventional cardiologists perform the broadest possible range of treatments. The team includes pioneers in the use of angioplasty, drug-coated and drug-eluting stents, and other treatments for blocked coronary arteries, including in high-risk and complex situations. Procedures only available at a handful of medical centers around the world are commonly performed at the University of Miami Hospital, including alcohol septal ablation for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy – the creation of a small controlled heart attack to relieve symptoms when the heart muscle has become abnormally thickened; mitral, pulmonic, and aortic valvuloplasty to open valves that are “stuck”; repair of holes in the heart called “septal defects” without surgery; and advanced treatment of blocked arteries and veins in the legs, neck, and throughout the body. Dr. William O'Neill is conducting clinical trials for newer approaches to treat aortic valve stenosis with a non-surgical valve replacement technique.
Our Interventional Cardiologists include:
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Dr. Mauricio Cohen, Catheterization Lab Director
Congestive Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathy Treatments (including Heart Transplantation):
As the only heart and heart-lung transplant program in South Florida, the UM/JMH team sees patients ranging from early heart disease without symptoms, to those with such severe heart failure that artificial heart support devices or heart transplantation are required. Heart transplant recipients usually recover fully to normal activities, and are monitored carefully by the medical and surgical team thereafter. As experts in the science and clinical treatment of heart failure, UM doctors are often consulted by cardiologists around the world for expert diagnosis and management guidance.
Electrophysiology (including Atrial Fibrillation Ablation):
In the Center's electrophysiology section, a team of physician-scientists are developing advanced treatments to cure cardiac arrhythmias and extend and improve quality of life for patients with heart failure. Atrial fibrillation is the most common abnormal heart rhythm that affects millions of Americans that is often caused by "short circuits" within the heart muscle that trigger the arrhythmia. Until recently, treatments for atrial fibrillation used medications or electrical shocks called cardioversions to bring the heart back to its normal rhythm. Such treatments are usually temporary and are not cures.
The electrophysiology team are world leaders in the development and use of radiofrequency ablation therapy to treat the "short circuits," leading to a permanent cure for atrial fibrillation in up to 80% of cases. In this procedure, highly flexible wires are inserted through veins in the neck and groin and advanced under x-ray monitoring to the heart, where they are used to deliver a controlled burn to areas of the heart that trigger atrial fibrillation. By removing the triggers, our electrophysiologists can cure atrial fibrillation in many patients.
To learn more about electrophysiology procedures and conditions, please see the links below*:
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Our Electrophysiology Cardiologists include:
- Agustin Castellanos, M.D.
- Todd Florin, M.D.
- Alberto Interian, Jr., M.D.
- Gustavo Lopera, M.D.
- Robert J. Myerburg, M.D.
- Kyoko Soejima, M.D.
- Andre d’Avila, M.D
Clinical Trials:
With the assembled leaders in cardiovascular medicine, we are able to offer our patients the opportunity to participate in a number of different clinical trials. Please contact us for more information regarding trials currently underway by calling (305) 243-5554.
From general cardiovascular concerns like what to do about a high cholesterol, to symptomatic heart problems, whether just a mild case of palpitations, or severe chest pain, the Cardiovascular Division of the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine are available to patients and to doctors for consultation.
To arrange a consultation, please call (305) 243-5554.
Multidisciplinary Stem Cell Research:
One of the most exciting aspects of our work is the use of adult bone marrow derived stem cells; these are not the controversial embryonic stem cell lines. As Dr. Hare explains, "a portion of the heart cells die and form a scar after a heart attack. These new stem cells heal the scar and grow new heart tissue." Already at the forefront of clinical application of cardiac stem cell therapies, our UM faculty, under the direction of Dr. Alan Heldman, are conducting clinical trials on the use of bone marrow derived stem cells to treat patients that have suffered a heart attack. The Cardiovascular Division and Cardiac Surgery Division perform these studies in conjunction with the University of Miami Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute (ISCI).
Another group of UM researchers seek to cure coronary artery disease through the use of stem cells from bone marrow. Faculty in the University of Miami Vascular Biology Institute in conjunction with Dr. Pascal Goldschmidt, Dean of the School of Medicine and other researchers, are exploring ways to use bone marrow to prevent and reverse damaged bloods vessels from heart disease.