"Bumrungrad" highlights "Complete Heart Failure Care" integrates medical teams and advanced technology to provide comprehensive care for heart failure patients, increasing survival chances.
Bumrungrad Hospital organized an Exclusive Afternoon Tea Conversation under the topic Bumrungrad’s Complete Heart Failure Care Pathway: A Second Chance at Life presenting a comprehensive heart failure care approach connecting every treatment step through close collaboration of multidisciplinary teams and advanced technology, from diagnosis, early treatment, critical care, use of heart, lung, and circulation support technology, heart transplantation, to rehabilitation and long-term follow-up.
Dr. Piyachat Pipattanapongsophon, a cardiology specialist in heart failure and heart transplantation at Bumrungrad Hospital, stated that heart failure is the end stage of various heart diseases such as coronary artery disease, valve disease, and cardiomyopathy. Each patient has different causes and severity levels, so treatment must be personalized to suit the individual’s condition for maximum effectiveness.
A key factor to improving survival is early referral to the Advanced Heart Failure team, especially when patients deteriorate or do not respond to standard treatments, allowing the medical team time to assess and consider advanced treatment options before heart failure affects other vital organs.
For example, Mr. Timothy, a 64-year-old man with cardiomyopathy for over 15 years, despite ongoing treatment, deteriorated rapidly into a critical state requiring heart support technology including pacemaker, CRT-D, MitraClip, and medication. When it was clear his heart could not sufficiently recover, heart transplantation became a crucial option.
Throughout his treatment, multidisciplinary collaboration was essential, involving heart failure cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, CCU teams, anesthesiologists, cardiac technologists, heart disease pharmacists, and coordinators for heart failure and transplantation, linking care and information with family and medical teams to ensure continuous 24-hour care.
Lt. Col. Dr. Sakolwatchara Montraivet, a cardiology specialist and cardiac imaging expert at Bumrungrad Hospital, said that in critical heart failure or shock, every minute affects survival chances. The medical team must evaluate and apply life-support technology at the right time. Severe cases may use ECMO to support heart and lung function combined with pVAD or Impella, known as ECPELLA, to reduce heart workload and pressure, maintain blood flow to vital organs, and allow recovery from critical condition.
Technology is only part of the success; the crucial factors are timely application, the expertise of specialists including cardiac imaging doctors, cardiothoracic surgeons, anesthesiologists, cardiac and thoracic technologists, CCU teams, and all staff closely monitoring complications 24/7. When the heart cannot sufficiently recover, advanced life-support technology serves as a bridge to transplantation, stabilizing circulation, enabling organ recovery, and preparing the patient for transplantation when a suitable donor heart is available.
Dr. Patchara Ongjarit, cardiothoracic surgeon at Bumrungrad Hospital, explained that upon notification from the Thai Red Cross Society of a compatible donor heart, all teams must work urgently because the donor heart can be preserved outside the body for no more than four hours. While the surgical team travels to retrieve the heart, another team prepares the patient and operating room, with all steps coordinated seamlessly, including travel coordination with Royal Project traffic police to deliver the donor heart within the required timeframe.
Heart transplantation is thus not the task of a single surgeon but a multidisciplinary effort involving cardiothoracic surgeons, transplant anesthesiologists, surgical nurses, and all personnel to ensure safe and effective surgery.
Bumrungrad Heart Institute has over 20 years of successful heart transplant experience, authorized by the Thai Red Cross Society as a heart transplant center and accredited with JCI Heart Failure standards from the USA. Additionally, it has been ranked by Newsweek magazine as one of the world’s best specialty hospitals in cardiology for 2026 and is the only Thai hospital on that list. It also ranked first in Thailand and Asia-Pacific for cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery specialty hospitals in 2026.
Treatment outcomes show zero mortality within 30 days after heart transplant surgery, and advanced heart failure patients receiving transplants have a post-surgery survival rate of approximately 85–90%. Without transplantation, these patients may face death within one to two years.
Ms. Rujira Songprakorn, Division Director of Clinical Service Line-OPD 1 at Bumrungrad Hospital, noted that heart transplant coordinators play a vital role throughout treatment, acting as key connectors in the Integrated Patient Journey—from registering on the donor list with the Thai Red Cross, linking data among Heart Failure, ICU, and transplant teams, to communicating with patients and families. Since the timing of donor heart availability is unpredictable, all parties must be ready 24/7 to ensure coordinated information, joint decision-making, and immediate action when a suitable donor heart is found.
Post-transplant, patients enter a Cardiac Rehabilitation program where multidisciplinary teams jointly manage physical rehabilitation, nutrition, medication, and ongoing symptom monitoring. They also prepare patients and families for self-care at home under a Family-centered Care model, involving families throughout treatment because the success of heart transplantation is not only survival or surgery but enabling patients to return to daily life and meaningful family time.
However, heart transplantation is not the end of treatment but the beginning of a new life. Rapid diagnosis, early patient referral, timely technology use, and multidisciplinary teamwork are key components to improving survival chances for heart failure patients.