Treatment Of Heart Failure at World Class Hospitals in India.
What is Heart Failure?
Heart failure is a condition in which the heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs. In other cases, the heart can’t pump blood to the rest of the body with enough force. The term “heart failure” doesn’t mean that heart has stopped or is about to stop working. However, heart failure is a serious condition that requires medical care.
Heart failure develops over time as the heart’s pumping action grows weaker. The condition can affect the right side of the heart only, or it can affect both sides of the heart. Most cases involve both sides of the heart.
- Right-side heart failure occurs if the heart can’t pump enough blood to the lungs to pick up oxygen.
- Left-side heart failure occurs if the heart can’t pump enough oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body.
What are the symptoms of heart failure?
The main symptoms are:
- shortness of breath – when you are being active or at rest.
- swelling – of your feet, ankles, stomach and lower back areas.
- fatigue – feeling unusually tired or weak.
Symptoms occur because the heart does not have enough strength to pump blood all the way round the body efficiently. This can cause fluid to pool in the feet and legs. If this fluid is left unmanaged, it can build and spread to your stomach area and sit beneath your lungs. This reduces their ability to expand and makes you short of breath.
Medication and making changes to the way you live can make a real difference to these symptoms. People with heart failure experience different symptoms and everyone copes in different ways, so speak to your GP and your heart failure nurse about what is best for you.
What are the most common types of CHF?
Left-sided CHF is the most common type of CHF. It occurs when your left ventricle doesn’t properly pump blood out to your body. As the condition progresses, fluid can build up in your lungs, which makes breathing difficult.
There are two kinds of left-sided heart failure:
- Systolic heart failure occurs when the left ventricle fails to contract normally. This reduces the level of force available to push blood into circulation. Without this force, the heart can’t pump properly.
- Diastolic failure, or diastolic dysfunction, happens when the muscle in the left ventricle becomes stiff. Because it can no longer relax, the heart can’t quite fill with blood between beats.
Right-sided CHF occurs when the right ventricle has difficulty pumping blood to your lungs. Blood backs up in your blood vessels, which causes fluid retention in your lower extremities, abdomen, and other vital organs.
It’s possible to have left-sided and right-sided CHF at the same time. Usually, the disease starts in the left side and then travels to the right when left untreated.
LVAD/ VAD Left Ventricular Assist Device or Ventricular Assist Device
Ventricular assist devices (VADs) help heart pump blood from one of the main pumping chambers to the rest of the body or to the other side of the heart. These pumps may be implanted in the body or connected to a pump outside your body.
- A pump : It is placed inside or outside of the belly.
- An electronic controller : The controller is like a small computer that controls how the pump works.
- Batteries : The batteries are carried outside the body. They are connected to the pump with a cable that goes into the belly.
The heart surgeon opens the middle of the chest with a surgical cut and then separates the breastbone. Then the surgeon will make space for the pump under the skin and tissue in the upper part of the belly wall. The surgeon will then place the pump.
A tube will connect the pump to your heart. Another tube will connect the pump to the aorta. Another tube will be passed through the skin to connect the pump to the controller and batteries. The VAD will take blood from the ventricle through the tube that leads to the pump. Then the device will pump the blood back out to one of the arteries and through your body.VAD is implanted under general anesthesia.
Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators
An implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is a small battery-powered device that’s placed in the chest or abdomen that keeps track of the heart rate. An ICD has wires with electrodes on the ends that connect to the heart chambers. Doctors use the device to help treat irregular heartbeats called arrhythmias.
An implantable cardioverter defibrillator uses electrical pulses or shocks to help control life-threatening arrhythmias, especially those that can cause sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).
Sudden cardiac arrest is a condition in which the heart suddenly stops beating. ICDs have been very useful in preventing sudden death in patients.
How does an ICD work?
An ICD is placed under the skin to monitor your heart rate, with thin wires connecting it to the heart. An ICD constantly monitors your heart rhythm through the electrodes.
If an ICD notices a dangerous heart rhythm it can deliver one or more of the following treatments:
- Pacing – a series of low-voltage electrical impulses (paced beats) at a fast rate to try and correct the heart rhythm.
- Cardioversion – one or more small electric shocks to try and restore the heart to a normal rhythm.
- Defibrillation – one or more larger electric shocks to try and restore the heart to a normal rhythm.
Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT)
Some people with advanced heart failure experience a delay between the contraction of their right and left ventricles (lower chambers of the heart). In cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), a small electronic apparatus is surgically implanted to help both ventricles contract together.
This device is made up of three leads which are attached to the heart muscle at one end (one each to the right atrium, right ventricle and left ventricle) and to a pulse generator at the other. The pulse generator is placed under a pocket of skin created either in the upper chest or the abdomen.
Best Hospitals in India for Heart Failure Treatment
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