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Guidelines for sites linking to mayoclinic.orgMayo Clinic is a world leader in developing innovative ways to diagnose and treat heart failure. Each year, Mayo specialists evaluate and treat hundreds of patients who have congestive heart failure. Mayo's expertise in heart failure offers hope of prolonged life and improved quality of life to patients, many of whom may have found limited options elsewhere.
Patients have access to heart failure clinics at each Mayo Clinic location. Cardiologists and nurses in these clinics have special training in heart failure, and are experts in the diagnosis and treatment of common and rare forms of the disease. The Advanced Heart Failure Clinic at Mayo Clinic's Rochester campus is one of the few facilities in the world devoted specifically to treatment of advanced heart failure.
The clinics bring together experts in areas such as heart rhythm (electrophysiology), transplantation surgery, exercise physiology, and sleep disorders. Mayo is a world leader in the link between sleep disorders and heart failure. The clinics use the latest technology, including the ventricular assist device (VAD). Clinic staff collaborate to offer patients comprehensive and coordinated care, from diagnosis to treatment to follow-up.
As a major heart failure research center, Mayo Clinic focuses on the detection and diagnosis of heart failure in its earliest stages. Mayo's active clinical research program offers some patients the opportunity to participate in experimental therapies not available elsewhere.
Mayo physicians use state-of-the-art technology to diagnose heart failure. Specialized diagnostic areas include nuclear cardiology, electrophysiology, echocardiography and cardiac catheterization. Read more about congestive heart failure diagnosis.
Although in most cases damage to heart function cannot be reversed, treatments can significantly improve symptoms and help a weakened heart work as efficiently as possible. Some cases of heart failure can be treated by correcting the underlying cause, such as controlling a fast heart rhythm. Treatments that may include lifestyle changes, medications, transcatheter interventions, medical devices and surgery can often increase life expectancy and quality of life. Read more about congestive heart failure treatment options.
"Heart failure" sounds scary, as if the heart might fail at any second. Actually, those words describe a heart that is not pumping efficiently to deliver oxygen-rich blood to the body's cells. Congestive heart failure (CHF) describes fluid accumulation (congestion) in the lungs and other body tissues.
The severity of heart failure depends on how much pumping capacity the heart has lost. As they age, most people lose some pumping capacity. But the loss is significantly more in heart failure, which often results from damage caused by a heart attack or other diseases.
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