Clinical Research
Pushing the boundaries of what is possible
The surgeon-scientists at Keck Medicine of USC are committed to excellent patient care. We are always working to develop and perfect new techniques to give our patients better outcomes and shorter hospital stays.
Our robust surgical practice performs nearly 1,000 major cardiac procedures each year, and our unique location in Los Angeles and our access to the LAC+USC HealthCare Network provides access to a racially, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse population. We have the ability to recruit, randomize and retain patients from that large population.
Our clinical research unit has enrolled more than 500 patients in clinical trials over the last five years and maintains an active observational registry of more than 2,600 patients.
Some of our clinical trials include:
- Evaluating the benefit of concomitant repair of the tricuspid (right heart) valve in patients with mild or moderate regurgitation undergoing mitral valve surgery
- Evaluating the safety and efficacy of transcatheter aortic valve replacement versus conventional surgical aortic valve replacement in high-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis
- Investigating the use of intraoperative chest injections to provide superior postoperative analgesia as compared with current pain management in patients undergoing open heart surgery
- Determining whether injecting mesenchymal precursor cells (MPCs, normally present in bone marrow and shown to increase the development of blood vessels and new heart muscle) into the heart during surgery to implant ventricular assist devices is safe and effective in improving heart function
- Learning more about patients’ health 5-10 years after their mitral heart valve surgeries
- Evaluating the efficacy and safety of devices that reduce brain injury during surgical aortic valve replacement