1923 | First successful valve surgery in the world |
1944 | First in the world catheterization of the right heart and pulmonary artery |
1962 | First in the U.S. to use electric current to restore normal heart rhythm |
1968 | Invented arterial counterpulsation, a treatment that limits heart tissue death following a heart attack |
1972 | First to use porcine heterograft and homograft valves to replace diseased heart valves in New England |
1972 | First use of anti-arrhythmic medicines to correct irregular heart beats following heart attacks |
1984 | First heart transplant in New England |
1984 | TIMI trials launched, which demonstrate that new clot-busting drugs can save heart muscle and improve patients' survival following heart attack |
1989 | First to map the gene for familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy |
1989 | First to prove aspirin could prevent a first heart attack (Physicians Heart Study) |
1991 | First implant of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) in New England |
1992 | First to identify a gene responsible for severe, early-onset form of hypertension that runs in families |
1992 | First heart-lung transplant in Massachusetts |
1994 | Researchers report that ace inhibitors significantly reduce heart-attack survivors' risk of recurrent heart attacks and death |
1996 | One of only ten hospitals nationwide to perform minimally invasive aortic and mitral valve surgery, operating through a 6-8 centimeter incision |
1996 | Researchers report that cholesterol-lowering statin drugs significantly lower heart-attack survivors' risk of recurrent heart attacks |
2001 | First in New England to perform a complete operation on a patient with a surgeon directed, computer-assisted robot |
2003 | Researchers find that a new class of medication known as ARB (angiotensis receptor blockers) provide the same cardiovascular benefits as ACE inhibitors, offering patients and clinicians more treatment options |
2004 | First in the nation to implant new dual-chamber cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), which promotes natural heart activity and reduces unnecessary pacing in the lower right chamber of the heart, a significant patient benefit because unnecessary pacing has been shown to be harmful to some patients |
2005 | First in New England to perform 500 heart transplants, adding the hospital to an exclusive list of institutions nationwide to reach this mark, according to the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) |
2005 | First in the region to use a groundbreaking, non-invasive percutaneous procedure to repair a leaky heart valve |
2005 | First to prove that measuring C-reactive protein (CRP) levels is as important as measuring cholesterol at predicting heart attack |
2006 | First to prove that low molecular weight heparin significantly reduces the risk of repeat heart attack or death, compared to the most commonly administered anticoagulant regimen |
2006 | First hospital in New England and the second hospital in the nation to implant in a patient the Impella Recover 2.5—the world’s smallest ventricular assist device (VAD)—during a high-risk angioplasty, benefiting those patients with the most compromised heart function |
2006 | First hospital in the world to install a hybrid 64-detector CT/PET scanner, offering more advanced capabilities in evaluating patients with coronary artery disease |
2006 | BWH launches, in collaboration with the NIH and Amgen, the Women’s Genome Health Study to find the genetic causes for the development of heart disease, stroke and other common health disorders |
2007 | Using data collected from over 24,000 initially healthy American women, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have devised a new Web-based formula called the Reynolds Risk Score that for the first time more accurately predicts risk of heart attack or stroke among women |
2007 | Performed the first clinical cardiac CT in the United States with the new 320-slice CT scanner (AquilionONE). The Shapiro Center will have the first 320-slice CT scanner in New England. |