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DEVELOPED WITH PATIENTS, PATIENT ORGANISATIONS, AND
CARE PARTNERS FOR THOSE LIVING WITH HEART FAILURE
Treatments for heart failure
Developing your treatment plan
Once you’ve been diagnosed, your doctor will be able to determine the best treatment plan for you. Though heart failure will need lifelong management, with proper treatment, the signs and symptoms can improve and your heart can sometimes become stronger. Treatment may help you live longer and reduce your chance of dying suddenly.
Here are some of the more common drugs prescribed for heart failure:
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Lower blood pressure and lessen the work your heart has to do. Support healing of heart tissue after myocardial infarction (heart attack) or similar distress
Improves blood flow, reduces salt retention, and decreases strain on the heart. Contains an angiotensin receptor blocker, so must not be taken together with ACEi or ARB
Slows heart rate and lessens the work your heart has to do. Lowers blood pressure
Helps the heart pump better, strengthens the muscle fibres, and slows heart rate. Monitoring of blood levels may be required to avoid side effects
Helps your body reduce salt retention and pass extra water
Alternative name: aldosterone antagonist. Helps your body pass extra salt and water, lower blood pressure, and reduce the strain on your heart
Helps the kidneys to remove extra salt, sugar, and water from the body and reduces the strain on your heart
Lowers blood pressure and reduces workload on the heart by widening the blood vessels
These and other medications, either alone or in combination with each other, may lessen your symptoms and improve your energy level. Each therapy has a different role in your treatment, so be sure to take your treatments as directed by your doctor.
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Surgery and medical devices
In addition to lifestyle changes and medication, some patients may eventually need surgery or a cardiac device. A cardiac device is used to keep your heart beating with a normal rhythm. There are several types of devices available.
If your heart is very enlarged so that the heart rhythm cannot reach all muscle fibres in the right order, you may have a special form of arrhythmia called a ‘bundle branch block.’ If this causes the heart to pump very inefficiently, connecting both ventricles with thin wires to a specialised pacemaker may help. This stimulates both ventricles simultaneously, allowing a better blood flow and potentially increasing the ejection fraction. In many cases, such a pacemaker will be combined with an ICD.
An ICD is a battery-powered device placed under the skin and connected to your heart with thin wires. When you have a dangerous heart rhythm that could cause you to faint, the device reacts to prevent a cardiac arrest and restore a normal heartbeat.
Your left ventricle is the large, muscular chamber of the heart that pumps blood out to the body. A left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a battery-operated, mechanical pump-like device that’s surgically implanted. The power source is connected to the pump through a small hole in your abdomen. It supports the pumping ability of a heart that can’t effectively work on its own. LVADs are now portable and may be used for weeks to months.
An RVAD pumps blood from your right ventricle or right atrium into your pulmonary artery and to the lungs. It helps your heart muscle pump blood when it has become weak. The pump is implanted near your heart. The power source is connected to the pump through a small hole in your abdomen.
Some people have such severe heart failure that surgery or medications don’t help. They may need to have their heart replaced with a healthy donor heart. It can take several months to years to find a donor heart that closely matches the tissues of the person receiving the transplant. But this process improves the chances that the recipient’s body will accept the heart.