Meet Dr. Mark Drazner
Dallas Heart Failure Specialist

A diagnosis of heart failure may seem ominous. But it is treatable, thanks to the expertise and skills of physicians like Mark Drazner, M.D., who specialize in the care of patients suffering from advanced heart disease.

Dr. Drazner is one of North Texas’ leading experts in caring for patients whose hearts are so weak they need heart transplants, or the assistance of mechanical devices, to survive over the long term. He also provides care after transplantation or procedures to implant heart assist devices.

If you’re being treated for heart failure, and you’re not improving, consider a cardiologist who specializes in patients with advanced heart failure."

“Cardiac transplantation is the gold-standard therapy for advanced heart disease, but its use is constrained by the availability of donor organs,” Dr. Drazner says. “Chronic drug infusions are sometimes helpful for symptoms, but they don’t prolong life. Fortunately, advances in the development of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs), which are essentially mechanical heart pumps implanted in the body, have opened a new era in treating patients with a failing heart.”

LVADs can serve as a bridge to transplant, keeping patients alive until a donor heart becomes available, or they can prolong survival and improve quality of life for patients who are not transplant candidates.

It’s an area of medical therapy that Dr. Drazner knows well: He’s the Medical Director of the Heart Failure, LVADs, and Cardiac Transplant Program at UT Southwestern.

“It’s among the best in the country,” he says, “and a resource for the community.”      

Clinical Interests

• Heart failure
• Care of heart transplant patients
• Management of Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD)
• Congestive heart failure (CHF)
• Advanced heart failure
• Chronic heart failure
• Ventricular Assist Device (VAD)
• Cardiomyopathy
• Dilated cardiomyopathy
• Ischemic cardiomyopathy
• Nonischemic cardiomyopathy
• Coronary artery disease