Newark Hospital Patient Sets NJ Record For Living With Heart Pump

NEWARK, NJ — With the help of supportive family members and her indefatigable determination – not to mention a life-sustaining mechanical heart pump – Mayra Rodriguez can now say she’s “the longest-living person in New Jersey on a left ventricular assist device (LVAD).”

Earlier this week, the advanced heart failure treatment and transplant team at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center gave a hearty congratulations to Rodriguez, a 42-year-old Union County resident.

Rodriguez recently marked her 14th year living with an Abbott HeartMate II Left Ventricular Assist Device, a mechanical pump that helps the heart move blood from the left ventricle to the aorta and the rest of the body.

The milestone also means Rodriguez is one of the longest-living LVAD patients in the United States, hospital administrators said – only 40 patients nationwide have lived more than 14 years with the device.

“I am so thankful to the team at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center,” said Rodriguez, who is living an active life that includes bike riding, hiking, and jogging with her family.

“I don’t have enough words to express how fortunate I feel to be here today and to have spent the last 14 years enjoying my life with my family,” Rodriguez added.

According to the hospital:

“In 2005, Mayra was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She underwent chemotherapy that treated her cancer but severely damaged her heart. Then in 2007, after giving birth to her son, she was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. A year later, the Advanced Heart Failure Treatment and Transplant team at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center implanted an Abbott HeartMate II Left Ventricular Assist Device, which her physicians expected to last only a few years.”

Hospital administrators said that LVADs were originally approved for use as a bridge to a heart transplant. But today, close to 14,000 patients are living with an LVAD. It is also used as “destination therapy” for patients like Rodriguez, who are medically ineligible for heart transplants.

Approximately 6.2 million Americans are living with heart failure and 10 percent of them have advanced heart failure. However, donor hearts are few and far between. In 2020, only 3,658 heart transplants were performed in the world.

“It has been a privilege to watch Mayra progress over the last 14 years,” said Margarita Camacho, surgical director of cardiac transplantation at Newark Beth Israel.

“When we met her, she was critically ill, but thanks to the innovative clinical care she received, her determination and the support of her family, Mayra is here with us today celebrating this milestone,” added Camacho, who set her own milestone five years ago as the first female recipient of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Harvey E. Nussbaum Distinguished Service Award.

• See related article: Newark Surgeon Is 1st Female To Earn Prestigious Medical Award
• See related article: New Year, New Heart: Newark Man Remembers 'Miracle' Transplant

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