Heart Failure Treatment | MedStar Health

Expert care and advanced procedures to treat heart failure at any stage

Heart failure occurs when your heart can’t pump enough blood for your body. Although it is a lifelong condition, treatment for heart failure can manage the symptoms and may allow your heart to gain strength.

The team in our Advanced Heart Failure Program is renowned for its innovations to improve treatment options and quality of care. Our doctors implanted the first HeartWare left ventricular assist device (LVAD) in the country and performed the first heart transplant in the District of Columbia. We continue to improve on these procedures while also aggressively pursuing even more effective therapies.

Types of heart failure treatment

The goals of heart failure treatment are to relieve symptoms and improve quality and length of life. In the earlier stages of the condition, your treatment plan may include make lifestyle changes such as:

Eating a heart-healthy, low-salt diet
Exercising
Maintaining a healthy weight
Quitting smoking

Medications can improve the heart’s function and your ability to live a more normal life. Medications you may be prescribed could include:

Diuretics to reduce fluid build-up
ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) to lower blood pressure
Beta blockers to slow your heart rate and lower your blood pressure
Aldosterone blockers to help prevent your body from holding onto fluids
Hydralazine/isosorbide to relax your blood vessels
Inotropes to increase your heart’s squeezing capacity. Only select centers like ours can send patients home on these powerful medications

More serious cases of heart failure may need advanced treatment. Your doctor may recommend one or more of the following treatment options:

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO): ECMO pumps your blood through a machine so your heart doesn’t have to work as hard to deliver oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body. This therapy often is used after heart surgery or before getting a ventricular assist device to allow your heart time to rest and recover.
Implantable devices: Devices such as implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) or pacemakers may be used to regulate or start your heart using electrical pulses.

Types of heart failure surgery

We’ll discuss your surgical options and work with you to find the best surgical option for your condition:

Coronary artery bypass surgery: If you heart is failing due to blockages in the coronary arteries, we can use a healthy vessel from elsewhere in the body to restore normal blood flow by creating a detour around the blocked arteries.
Heart transplant: If your heart is severely diseased, your doctor may recommend that your old heart be replaced with a healthier one.
Heart valve surgery: Damaged or diseased heart valves can prevent your heart from getting enough blood. Your doctor may recommend surgery to repair or replace the affected valves.
Ventricular assist device (VAD): Mechanical pumps can be implanted in your abdomen to help your heart pump enough blood through your body. These pumps may be used as an alternative to a heart transplant.

After surgery, your doctor may recommend that you receive extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), an external pump to oxygenate your blood, which allows your heart time to rest.

Conditions

Advanced heart failure

Advanced heart failure is a form of heart failure that has progressed to the most serious stage.

Amyloidosis (cardiac)

Amyloidosis is a disease that causes an abnormal protein called amyloid to build up in vital organs, such as the heart.

Angiogram (angiography)

An angiogram is a special X-ray taken as a special dye is injected through a thin, flexible tube called a catheter to detect blockages or aneurysms in blood vessels.

Cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy is a disease that weakens or changes the structure of your heart muscle, which makes it difficult for your heart to fill with and pump blood.

Chest X-ray

Chest X-rays use a small dose of radiation to create pictures of the structures inside the chest, including the lungs, heart, and chest wall.

Computerized Tomography (CT) Scan

The cardiac computed tomography scan, or cardiac CT, uses X-rays to create three-dimensional images of your heart and blood vessels.

Echocardiogram

An echocardiogram uses high-frequency sound waves to create images of your heart.

Electrocardiogram (ECG)

An electrocardiogram, also known as an ECG, measures the heart’s electrical activity.

Heart failure

Heart failure occurs when your heart doesn’t fill with enough blood or doesn’t pump enough blood throughout your body.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Magnetic resonance imaging, better known as cardiac MRI, is a combination of radio waves, magnets and computer technology to create images of your heart and blood vessels.

Peripartum cardiomyopathy

Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a rare form of heart failure that can develop during or up to six months after pregnancy.

Sarcoidosis (cardiac)

Sarcoidosis causes lumps to form in your heart, lungs or lymph nodes and can damage these organs.

Stress tests

Stress tests are used to assess how your heart works during physical activity. There are several types of stress tests, including treadmill or bike stress tests, nuclear stress tests, stress echocardiograms and chemically induced stress tests.