Heart failure is a condition in which your heart can no longer provide enough blood to keep up with your body's needs. It can have different causes, from coronary artery disease to cardiomyopathy to heart attack or congenital heart problems. In many cases, heart failure can be treated effectively with medications. But, when medications don’t help and symptoms become severe, a heart transplant may need to be considered.

One of the primary ways cardiologists assess heart function is by measuring ejection fraction—that is, the percentage of blood in the heart's left ventricle ejected with each heartbeat. A normal ejection fraction is 55% to 65%. Many people with heart failure have an ejection fraction below 40%.

Symptoms

There are many symptoms of heart failure, ranging from mild to severe, including:

• Shortness of breath, particularly when exercising.
• Inability to exercise or perform physical tasks.
• Swelling in the legs, ankles or feet.
• Sudden weight gain from retaining fluid.
• Frequent urination late at night.

Treatments available

• Medication. Most cases of heart failure are treated with medication. There are many drugs available for the treatment of heart failure, and your cardiologist may prescribe one or more of them.
• Implantable defibrillator. Heart failure patients have a higher risk of sudden cardiac death, so an implantable defibrillator may be needed. This device is implanted surgically. If your heart should stop suddenly, the defibrillator will shock your heart back to its normal rhythm.
• Ventricular assist devices (VADs). A ventricular assist device can be used to help your heart pump better. VADs are sometimes known as "artificial heart pumps". These mechanical devices are implanted in your heart and run on battery power. VADs have been shown to help extend and improve the lives of people with heart failure.
• Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). A relatively new treatment, Cardiac resynchronization therapy can help your heart to pump more efficiently. A CRT device uses electrical signals to help the heart beat in a more coordinated fashion.
• Heart transplant. A heart transplant is used for patients who have severe heart failure. Patients who have heart transplants often experience dramatic improvements in their health. Since donor hearts are in short supply, patients needing a heart transplant may need to wait months or even years for a heart to become available.

A seasoned team of experts who’ve led their field

Through our advanced approaches at UR Medicine Cardiac Care, we are able to give heart failure patients greater hope than ever before. Our Program in Heart Failure and Transplantation is unique in the Rochester area. And, we’re the only center in Western New York that performs heart transplants with outcomes comparable to the best heart transplant centers in the nation. We’re also one of the nation's leading centers for research on ventricular assist devices—and one of the world's leading research centers on implantable defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization therapy. In fact, our program is the first in the region to receive Advanced Certification from the Joint Commission for Heart Failure and for Ventricular Assist Devices.

Find out more

For details on the diagnosis and treatment of congestive heart failure, call UR Medicine Cardiac Care at (585) 273-3760.

An award-winning program

UR Medicine Cardiac Care is the area's only center that has received a Gold Plus Performance Award from the American Heart Association, meeting the highest standards for treating heart failure, coronary artery disease and stroke.