Cleveland Clinic heart surgeon and transplant recipient discuss the profound impact of organ donations and transplants

For Dr. Nicolas Brozzi and heart-transplant recipient Anamaria Hernandez, April – National Organ Donor Awareness Month has personal significance.

“Cardiovascular disease continues to be the leading cause of death in the United States and developed countries throughout the world,” says Brozzi, a cardiothoracic surgeon and researcher with Cleveland Clinic Florida’s Heart Transplant Program. “Although much progress has been made in treating cardiovascular disease, we continue to live with many risk factors and are working hard to defeat it.”

In this episode of the Florida Health Care Insider podcast, presented by Cleveland Clinic in Florida in partnership with the South Florida Business Journal, Brozzi and Hernandez share insights into the impact of organ transplants and donations.

“I'm eight months post-heart transplant now, and I feel great,” says Hernandez, whose surgery took place at Cleveland Clinic Weston Hospital following a lifetime of debilitating, heart-related problems that threatened her life.

Despite the prevalence of cardiovascular disease, Dr. Brozzi says advances in medical interventions are providing more treatment options for patients.

“Medicine continues to evolve at a very rapid pace,” Dr. Brozzi says. “There is opportunity to modify risk factors and prevent heart disease from advancing to late stages.”

Listen to this episode to hear about:

• Heart conditions that can lead to patients becoming-transplant candidates (10:58)
• The multidisciplinary nature of heart transplant procedures (16:53)

Click here to learn more about Cleveland Clinic’s Transplant Center in Weston Hospital.

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