Joseph Downs received Montefiore’s 300^th adult heart transplant in April, marking a major milestone for the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery. About five years ago, doctors discovered

Montefiore’s 300th transplant patient Joseph Downs with Ulrich Jorde, MD.

that Downs, a 34-year old father of two from New Jersey, had a congenital condition that caused his heart to pump poorly. When medications failed he was told he needed a new heart—but three local transplant centers turned him down because, as a Jehovah’s Witness, he required a complex bloodless transplant, a procedure that Montefiore surgeons are expert at performing. The Jehovah’s Witness religion forbids blood sharing and blood transfusions.

Thanks to Ulrich Jorde, MD, Section Head, Heart Failure and Medical Director, Cardiac Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, and. Daniel Goldstein, MD, Vice Chairman, Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgery and Surgical Director, Cardiac Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Mr. Downs was evaluated and cared for while he waited on Montefiore’s heart transplant list. William Jakobleff, MD, Cardiothoracic Surgeon in the Department of Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgery and the heart transplant team performed the successful operation, which was covered in the New York Daily News. Downs reported, "Today, I'm able to walk for an hour and not have to stop because I can't breathe. I’m more like myself again." Read the full Daily News story here: https://goo.gl/35WBC4

CHAM patient Clarence Aquirre with WWE Superstar Becky Lynch.

WWE SummerSlam Week came to Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM), to the delight of our young patients and their families. WWE Superstars Becky Lynch, Bayley, Xavier Woods, Big E and Kofi Kingston, along with WWE Ambassador Dana Warrior, took selfies, signed autographs and passed out WWE gifts to the kids, who participated in WWE-themed arts and crafts and face-painting. WWE established Connor’s Cure, which has raised $1.5 million to support pediatric brain and spinal cord cancer research, and assisted more than 240 families around the world. The WWE SummerSlam outreach effort was also enjoyed by Montefiore physicians, nurses and Child Life specialists.

Montefiore’s leading ophthalmology surgeons and physicians are bringing world-class eye care to Westchester patients at the Lasik and Eye Care Center in Hartsdale. The Center offers comprehensive vision care and advanced specialty services in corneal and refractive surgery (LASIK) and cosmetic eyelid surgery,

Roy S. Chuck, MD, with a LASIK surgery device.

COMPREHENSIVE VISION CARE AND ADVANCED SPECIALTY SERVICES PROVIDED BY MONTEFIORE’S LEADING PRACTITIONERS IN WESTCHESTER

as well as pediatric ophthalmology, glaucoma and uveitis. The Center houses an advanced LASIK surgery device—the WaveLight Refractive Suite—with both custom wavefront and topography-linked capabilities, which can treat patients with asymmetric corneas who were previously unable to have this surgery. The Center also offers a newly FDA-approved procedure called cornea cross-linking, which strengthens the cornea if it's been weakened by certain eye conditions. "Many of the service chiefs and senior faculty from Montefiore see patients in Hartsdale," says Roy Chuck, MD, PhD, Chairman and Professor, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Montefiore. "They are not only leaders of their services, but leaders in the field, many of whom have developed widely used techniques," he says.