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Congestive Heart Failure Procedures

Related Media: The Pacemaker Implant Procedure

Surgical procedures are used to treat heart failure. They may also be used to treat or help other heart issues that add to your heart failure.

Treating Heart Failure

You may need surgery if medical therapy is not helping your heart failure. Procedures can help your heart work better and limit damage to it. These include:

Pacemakers may help people with heart failure who also have heart arrhythmias. Keeping the heart's rhythm normal can help it pump better. People with dilated cardiomyopathies that medical therapy is not helping may also benefit from a biventricular cardiac pacemaker. This type of pacemaker sends electrical signals to the heart’s lower chambers. The pacemaker is put in the chest and connected to the heart.

This is a device that can be put in your chest. People with heart failure are more prone to some heart rhythm issues that put them at risk for their heart stopping suddenly. ICDs are implanted in people to prevent this.

This is a pump that can be put in your chest to help the heart pump. It is sometimes called a bridge to transplant, since it can be used to help people waiting for heart transplants. This device can also be used as a long term treatment in people who:

  • Cannot have a transplant
  • Do not respond to medical therapy
  • Have a low risk of surviving 1 year

LVAD has shown success in helping a person live longer. For some people a heart transplant was no longer needed after having an LVAD.

A heart transplant may be needed when the heart is damaged so much that other treatments are not working and a person is at risk of dying. This is for the most severe heart failure. There are many things that may impact whether a person can get a heart transplant. People who are eligible are placed on a waiting list for a donor heart. Waiting times for a heart can range from days to months.

During the waiting period, people keep having their treatment until a there is a donor heart for them. A person may also get an implantable medical device during this time. It depends on how bad their heart failure is and how the treatments are working.

Close medical follow up is key after a heart transplant. After surgery, there is a higher risk for many health problems, including: Most people return to their normal activities, including work and exercise. A rehabilitation program may be advised to help you get better faster and restore heart health.

Treating Other Heart Problems

Surgery can help fix or improve any heart problems that may add to heart failure. These include:

  • Helps the blood flow inside the heart, but has not been shown to help heart failure survival.
  • More commonly known as open-heart or bypass surgery. Veins from the legs are used to go around clogged arteries that feed the heart muscle. This will help blood flow to the heart muscle and help it work better.

References

  • Devices and surgical procedures to treat heart failure. American Heart Association website. Available at: https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/heart-failure/treatment-options-for-heart-failure/devices-and-surgical-procedures-to-treat-heart-failure.
  • Grossi, E.A., Galloway, A.C., et al. Impact of minimally invasive valvular heart surgery: a case-control study. Ann Thorac Surg, 2001; 71 (3): 807-810.
  • Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: https://www.dynamed.com/condition/heart-failure-with-reduced-ejection-fraction.
  • Heart transplant. American Heart Association website. Available at: http://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/congenital-heart-defects/care-and-treatment-for-congenital-heart-defects/heart-transplant.
  • Heart treatments. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute website. Available at: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/heart-treatments-procedures.
  • Heidenreich, P.A., Bozkurt, B., et al. 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA Guideline for the Management of Heart Failure: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2022; 79 (17): e263-e421.
  • Leclercq, C. and Kass, D.A. Retiming the failing heart: principles and current clinical status of cardiac resynchronization. J Am Coll Cardiol, 2002; 39 (2): 194-201.
  • Steinman, T.I., Becker, B.N., et al. Guidelines for the referral and management of patients eligible for solid organ transplantation. Transplantation, 2001; 71 (9): 1189-1204.
 
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