Memorial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute-Texas Medical Center

Conditions and Treatments

Congestive Heart Failure

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a condition in which the heart can't pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs. The failing heart keeps working but not as efficiently as it should. CHF causes fluid to in your lungs and other body tissues. Over time and left untreated, worsening congestive heart failure will affect virtually every organ in the body.

Congestive heart failure can be caused by:

• Coronary artery disease - narrowed arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle
• Previous heart attack
• High blood pressure
• Heart valve disease
• Cardiomyopathy - primary disease of the heart muscle itself
• Congenital heart defects - heart defects present at birth
• Endocarditis - infection of the heart valves
• Heart valve disease, such as mitral stenosis, mitral regurgitation, aortic stenosis, tricuspid regurgitation, and pulmonary valve stenosis
  
• Myocarditis – infection of the heart muscle

When congestive heart failure (CHF) is detected early, a goal-oriented, multidisciplinary treatment plan can delay or even halt progression of the disease, offering patients the opportunity to live a productive life. The Congestive Heart Failure Program at Memorial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute-TMC provides patients willing to take charge of their health access to an array of therapies, treatments and lifestyle support delivered by multidisciplinary caregivers in one location.

Our multi-disciplinary team works closely with patients to improve their overall health and quality of life throughout the spectrum of heart failure. By encouraging our patients to take a proactive role in self-care, we help them avoid hospitalization and delay disease progression, implantation of a left ventricle assist device or heart transplantation.

Treatment

For early CHF, we prescribe medications including ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers to block the harmful effects of stress hormones that can worsen CHF, as well as angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs), aldosterone antagonists and diuretics to reduce excess fluids in the body. Through individualized education about disease self-management, patients learn about their medications, nutrition, salt restriction, exercise and symptom management.

For patients with refractory CHF, we offer atrial synchronized biventricular pacemaker therapy or cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), an innovative new treatment for patients whose disease has progressed. Data collected in clinical trials from more than 22,000 patients with symptomatic heart failure showed that CRT results in a 22 percent reduction in mortality and a 37 percent reduction in hospitalization when combined with medication.

We also provide implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapy, which is known to lower the risk of mortality in properly selected patients. Physicians on staff are skilled at assessing the need for ventricular assist devices and provide full evaluation for heart transplantation when required.

Research studies and clinical trials are underway to explore new treatment options for individuals with congestive heart failure.  Learn about current research studies related to this condition and information on enrollment as a study participant.