Week 1- Grant Rowlands

My first week during BME Summer Immersion allowed me to experience time in the cardiac care unit (CCU) as well as see ventricular assist device (VAD) patients in the clinic at Weill Cornell. Individuals in the CCU suffered from many types of cardiomyopathies and the complications they present, including renal failure and strokes. Patients observed in the VAD clinic had either axial (2^nd generation) or centrifugal (3^rd generation) pumps implanted within the last few years. Many were for basic check-ups to assess height, weight, medications, flow rate, and speed of the pump, while one patient was being seen for a hardware issue; this can have devastating consequences for the VAD and subsequently the patient. Finally, I was in the OR to observe the explant of a VAD’s outflow cannula from a patient who previously had a pump implanted.

I spent the latter half of the week at Montefiore Medical Center for the 5^th Annual MonteHeart conference. I was able to observe presentations and network with some of the world’s leading heart transplant surgeons. Discussions focused on topics ranging from proper medications and renal failure to pump thrombosis and next generation “smart VADs”.