Different medical procedures, like coronary artery bypass or percutaneous coronary intervention, can treat the underlying causes of heart failure. Some people may get an implantable device to aid the heart, while others may need a transplant.
Heart failure means your heart no longer supplies the tissues in your body with adequate amounts of blood and oxygen. Depending on the underlying cause, heart function can sometimes improve with medications, lifestyle changes, noninvasive procedures, or surgery.
Surgery for heart failure includes more than one option. The recommended type of surgery depends on the cause and the individual’s needs. For example, valve repair or replacement may restore proper heart function for some people with valve disease, but it may not be an option for others.
The following are the most common procedures when someone has heart failure.
Percutaneous coronary intervention, formerly called angioplasty with stent, is a minimally invasive procedure that restores blood flow to the heart by unblocking a coronary artery. Coronary arteries supply the heart with oxygen-rich blood.
The term “percutaneous” means through the skin, so it refers to a surgeon reaching your heart or arteries by puncturing the skin rather than cutting an area open.
During a percutaneous coronary intervention, a surgeon inserts a thin, flexible tube (catheter) into an affected blood vessel. They use the catheter to place a mesh stent or balloon that opens the blocked artery and keeps the blood flowing to the heart.
The catheter can be inserted into a blood vessel in your groin and wrist.
An artery blockage is often caused by coronary artery disease resulting from plaque buildup inside your blood vessels. When the plaque ruptures from the artery walls, it may cause a blood clot. A clot may partially or completely block blood flow to the heart.
Coronary artery disease is the most common cause of heart failure. The outcome for people with heart failure who receive this procedure often improves compared to those treated with medications alone. Percutaneous coronary intervention has a small risk of damage to your heart’s blood vessels.
A catheter ablation, or radiofrequency ablation, also involves a small and flexible catheter inserted in one of your blood vessels until it reaches your heart. The catheter first explores your heart’s electrical signals to determine the cause of an abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia). The doctor then uses radiofrequency energy through the catheter to destroy the tissue causing the problem.
A doctor may recommend catheter ablation if you have an arrhythmia such as atrial fibrillation, which is often
A 2023 study found that patients who received medications and underwent catheter ablation to treat end stage heart failure had better outcomes than those treated alone.
A doctor may recommend one of several implantable medical devices depending on the stage of heart failure or arrhythmia. These devices can help your heart pump blood and contract in a proper rhythm. They may include biventricular pacemakers to help the heart chambers beat in a synchronized manner and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators to prevent sudden cardiac death in people with higher risk.
Implantable medical devices can be lifesaving but are generally recommended in particular situations. For example, they may be used in people with life threatening ventricular arrhythmia, which
Your heart has four valves that help control blood movement through its chambers. Problems with these valves can lead to increased pressure and heart failure.
Depending on the severity, a heart valve can be repaired or replaced surgically. These surgeries used to be open heart procedures but can now, in many cases, be performed with minimally invasive techniques.
Valve surgeries usually have a high success rate. A
A coronary bypass involves taking a blood vessel from somewhere in your body and using it to create a new pathway to your heart when a coronary artery is blocked.
The procedure often significantly improves heart failure symptoms and increases the chance of survival. However, lifestyle changes are crucial to recovery, or the new graft can become blocked over time.
Learn more about lifestyle changes to prevent heart disease.
A heart transplant involves replacing your heart with one from a donor. Transplants are usually reserved for people with heart failure that doesn’t respond to medications and other surgeries.
Candidates for heart transplants are selected under strict criteria because there are only a limited number of donor hearts available.
After a heart transplant, you’ll need to take immunosuppressants to reduce the risk of your body rejecting the new heart.
About half of people who receive a heart transplant have a survival rate of at least
Many types of surgery and procedures are used to treat heart failure.
Surgery may improve heart function depending on the underlying cause of heart failure. Some surgeries may reduce the progression of heart failure, relieve some symptoms, and extend your life.