Heart Failure

Overview

Heart failure, also known as Congestive Heart Failure, occurs when the heart cannot function well enough to meet the needs of the other organs in the body. A healthy heart delivers oxygen-rich blood to the body's cells. If you experience heart failure, the heart muscle continues to pump but cannot keep up with its workload. The heart may try to compensate by enlarging, developing more muscle mass or increasing pumping power, but failure of the muscle will continue to progress and worsen over time. Heart failure is often a result of another condition, such as high blood pressure or coronary artery disease. Some common symptoms of heart failure include shortness of breath, fluid retention, fatigue and irregular heartbeat.

While heart failure can be fatal, early detection can help you manage symptoms and make necessary changes to improve your quality of life. At UK Gill Heart & Vascular Institute, we have a comprehensive and multidisciplinary program for treating heart failure. Our team of cardiology experts works together to create a treatment plan that is best for your individual circumstances.

Our Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation program offers a full-scope of treatment options for patients in progressed stages of the condition — including patients who show signs of advanced heart failure on the left and right sides of the heart. With the latest surgical treatments available, including ventricular assist devices and total artificial heart devices, we are able to treat all heart failure stages.

Patients also have access to treatment not widely available elsewhere. Some ongoing trials we offer include use of allogenic stem cells for chronic heart failure and hemodynamic-guided management of heart failure with CardioMEMS, a system that measures and monitors the heart rate and pressure in the pulmonary artery.