Heart Transplant

A heart transplant is a lifesaving surgery to replace a patient's failing or damaged heart with a healthy heart from a diseased donor. At UC San Diego Health, our heart transplant outcomes exceed national standards.

Our heart transplantation program began in 1989 under the leadership of internationally renowned cardiothoracic surgeon Stuart W. Jamieson, MB, FRCS. Our first heart transplant was in 1990.

Now led by Drs. Marcus Anthony Urey, Victor Pretorius and Eric Adler, our heart transplant program — part of UC San Diego Health's Center for Transplantation — has grown to become the largest in San Diego and the third largest in California, placing it among the nation's top-performing transplant centers.

Our Transplant Accomplishments

• We are the first hospital on the West Coast to successfully perform heart transplant surgery from a donor after circulatory death (DCD), which can significantly decrease transplant waiting list times and improve patient outcomes.
  Read About This Groundbreaking Option
• Our transplant program is part of the heart and vascular specialties at UC San Diego Health that are ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Our patient survival rates for heart transplants exceed the national average, placing us among the nation's best transplant centers by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR).
  Get the Stats on Our High Survival Rates
• We performed 93 heart transplants in 2024, demonstrating our experience in achieving a high volume of transplants safely and successfully.
• We are the only hospital in San Diego County performing heart-lung and heart-liver transplants. We also perform heart-kidney transplants, among other multi-organ procedures.

• UC San Diego Health is one of only two health systems in San Diego and eight in California offering ventricular assist devices (VADs). These mechanical pumps help a failing heart circulate blood while the patient awaits a heart transplant. Our patient success outcomes for VAD implants exceed national averages.
  Learn More About VADs 

Finding A Donor Heart

To reduce the chance of rejection, you must be paired with a donor heart that closely matches your tissue type. Body size is also a key factor, as the heart must fit comfortably within your rib cage.

While waiting for a donor heart, you'll be assigned a status that indicates how urgently you need a transplant.

We transplant hearts available from donation after brain death (DBD) or donation after circulatory death (DCD), a newer method that increases access to donor hearts, shortens wait times and improves patient outcomes.

Heart-Lung and Other Multi-Organ Transplants

When all other treatment options have failed in people with both heart and lung failure, a combined heart-lung transplant may be necessary.

Conditions that most often require a heart-lung transplant include:

• Pulmonary hypertension
• Congenital heart disease (birth defects of the heart that affect the lungs)

Our heart transplant team works closely with UC San Diego Health's lung transplant program to provide personalized patient care. Our lung transplant surgeons are experts in single lung, double lung and combination heart-lung transplants.

We are the only hospital performing heart-lung and heart-liver transplants in San Diego County. We also perform heart-kidney transplants and other multi-organ procedures.

Learn About Multi-Organ Transplants

Heart Transplant Evaluation

Before being considered for a heart transplant, you will undergo a comprehensive evaluation to determine if you are a candidate and to rule out other treatment options.

The evaluation will include consultation with our advanced heart failure physician, a physical exam and a thorough medical assessment.

Exceptional Patient Care

You'll receive comprehensive, compassionate patient care tailored to your needs from a multidisciplinary team of experts in advanced heart failure, cardiac surgery and heart transplantation. Our team will guide you and your family through the entire transplant experience.

In addition, you'll benefit from access to the latest technology and organ availability at UC San Diego Health.

When appropriate, we also offer transplant alternatives, such as ventricular assist devices, which offer long-term mechanical support for your heart. You may also have opportunities to participate in leading-edge research trials.

Heart Transplant Support Group

For more information about events for heart transplantation and ventricular assist devices (VADs), call our Heart Transplant Program at 858-657-5050.

• 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. on the third Wednesday of every month via Zoom.
• Open only to pre- or post-transplant patients and their families and caregivers.
• To register, please contact our Heart Transplant Program at 858-657-5050.