Diagnosis
How We Can Help You
Heart failure is a chronic condition that prevents the heart from pumping blood as effectively as it should. The specialists at Stanford are experts at diagnosing and treating all forms of heart failure. In fact, they pioneered the use of the left ventricular assist device (LVAD) for people with late-stage heart failure.
Our cardiologists, electrophysiologists, and other specialists work together to find an individualized treatment plan that is best for you. Our goal is to meet your needs and slow the progression of heart failure, so you can live the best possible quality of life.
What We Offer You For Heart Failure
- Nationally recognized expertise in treating all types of heart failure, including advanced or rare forms in both men and women.
- Precise diagnosis options from minimally invasive BNP testing to heart catheterization, from skilled specialists so you can begin treatment quickly.
- Collaborative care between cardiologists, electrophysiologists (specialists in the heart’s electrical system), and genetic counselors to tailor your treatment.
- Advanced treatment options that use leading-edge technology, such as cardiac resynchronization therapy and LVAD, which we pioneered through our research.
- Robust support services including support groups for people with heart failure, nutrition counseling, and therapy sessions led by a behavioral psychologist.
- Comprehensive lifestyle modification and patient education program, including one of the country’s largest psychological support programs for heart patients.
INTERESTED IN AN ONLINE SECOND OPINION?
The Stanford Medicine Online Second Opinion program offers you easy access to our world-class doctors. It’s all done remotely, and you don’t have to visit our hospital or one of our clinics for this service. You don’t even need to leave home!
Visit our online second opinion page to learn more.
Treatments for Heart Failure
We provide a collaborative approach to treating people with heart failure, bringing together cardiologists, genetic counselors, behavioral psychologists, nurses, and other specialists to look at your heart and evaluate the lifestyle or genetic factors that may contribute to the condition.
Our specialists at the Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathy Clinic diagnose heart failure by performing a physical exam and understanding your family history. If we need to conduct further testing, we have access to state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment.
We treat all types of heart failure, from the most common to the most complex. Because we are leaders in heart failure research, we are at the forefront of the latest advancements in diagnosis and treatment. We offer many of the newest treatments available, and our providers have expertise with new devices and surgical options.
Stanford is one of the most experienced LVAD centers in the Bay Area – leading the way in research and treatment.
Treatment Overview
Specialized Care for Women
Medication
Your doctor may prescribe one medication or a combination of medications to help widen blood vessels and improve blood flow, slow your heart rate, or move excess fluid from your body or lungs so you can breathe more easily.
Lifestyle Modifications
To manage heart failure and prevent it from getting worse, your provider will discuss making lifestyle changes. You may need to:
- Eat more healthfully
- Lose weight
- Limit your sodium intake
- Stop smoking
- Reduce stress
- Start exercising
Our behavioral psychologists and other specialists in our Cardiac Behavioral Medicine Program will support you in making these changes. They, along with your provider, will meet with you regularly to help you prevent heart failure from getting worse.
Devices
If your heart is not responding to the medication, you may be a candidate for an implantable device. Our electrophysiologists place these lifesaving devices near the heart during a surgical procedure.
- Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD): People who have heart failure with an irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia) may benefit from an ICD. When the device detects a dangerous, abnormal heart rhythm, it sends out a small electrical shock to correct it.
- Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD): People who have heart failure with an irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia) may benefit from an ICD. When the device detects an abnormal heart rhythm, it sends out a small electrical shock to correct it.
- Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT): For some people with heart failure, the heart’s electrical system does not function properly and prevents the heart’s ventricles from working together and beating efficiently. With CRT, a special pacemaker (a device that stimulates the heart muscle) helps the heart’s chambers beat in unison.
Left ventricular assist device (LVAD)
We use this device to treat people who have reached end-stage heart failure. We surgically implant the LVAD, a battery-operated, mechanical pump, which helps the left ventricle (the main pumping chamber of the heart) pump blood to the rest of the body.
LVADs can be used as:
- Bridge-to-transplant therapy: This lifesaving therapy for people awaiting a heart transplant provides the LVAD until a heart becomes available. In some cases, the LVAD is able to restore the failing heart, eliminating the need for a transplant.
- Destination therapy: Some people are not candidates for heart transplants. In this case, they can receive long-term treatment using an LVAD, which can prolong and improve their lives.
Should you need an implantable or LVAD medical device, our doctors coordinate with the Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS) Program provide technology to those waiting for a heart transplant as well as those who are not able to have a heart transplant.
If lifestyle changes, medication, or a cardiac device are not enough to manage heart failure, a heart transplant may be the next option. During this procedure, surgeons replace a patient’s failing heart with a healthy one from an organ donor.
Should you need this clinic, our doctors will coordinate your care with our Heart Transplant Program.
At Stanford, we understand that women with heart failure have different health needs than men. The specialists at our Women’s Heart Health Clinic recognize the unique concerns women face, including:
Risk factors
More women than men struggle with stress and obesity, which are risk factors that can lead to or worsen heart failure. At our Cardiac Behavioral Medicine Program, we help you address all lifestyle and behavioral factors that can contribute to heart disease.
Diagnosis
Many women with heart disease report many symptoms, not just of heart failure, but of other conditions. Our doctors use the latest technology to pinpoint the cause of your symptoms and arrive at an accurate diagnosis, so you can begin treatment promptly.
Advanced stages
In general, women tend to see a doctor about heart conditions later than men do, so they may be older and have more advanced disease. Women also often have heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (a stiffening of the left ventricle that prevents it from filling up with blood). This type of heart failure may result from chronic hypertension (high blood pressure).
Technology
Women tend to respond especially well to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), which uses a special pacemaker to help the heart’s chambers beat together as they should. At Stanford, we use the latest technology, including smaller pacemakers designed specifically for women.
Research
Research on women with heart failure is lacking, so at Stanford, we conduct research and clinical trials to learn more about the unique health needs of women and put our findings into practice.
Medication
Your doctor may prescribe one medication or a combination of medications to help widen blood vessels and improve blood flow, slow your heart rate, or move excess fluid from your body or lungs so you can breathe more easily.
Lifestyle Modifications
To manage heart failure and prevent it from getting worse, your provider will discuss making lifestyle changes. You may need to:
- Eat more healthfully
- Lose weight
- Limit your sodium intake
- Stop smoking
- Reduce stress
- Start exercising
Our behavioral psychologists and other specialists in our Cardiac Behavioral Medicine Program will support you in making these changes. They, along with your provider, will meet with you regularly to help you prevent heart failure from getting worse.
Devices
If your heart is not responding to the medication, you may be a candidate for an implantable device. Our electrophysiologists place these lifesaving devices near the heart during a surgical procedure.
- Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD): People who have heart failure with an irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia) may benefit from an ICD. When the device detects a dangerous, abnormal heart rhythm, it sends out a small electrical shock to correct it.
- Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD): People who have heart failure with an irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia) may benefit from an ICD. When the device detects an abnormal heart rhythm, it sends out a small electrical shock to correct it.
- Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT): For some people with heart failure, the heart’s electrical system does not function properly and prevents the heart’s ventricles from working together and beating efficiently. With CRT, a special pacemaker (a device that stimulates the heart muscle) helps the heart’s chambers beat in unison.
Left ventricular assist device (LVAD)
We use this device to treat people who have reached end-stage heart failure. We surgically implant the LVAD, a battery-operated, mechanical pump, which helps the left ventricle (the main pumping chamber of the heart) pump blood to the rest of the body.
LVADs can be used as:
- Bridge-to-transplant therapy: This lifesaving therapy for people awaiting a heart transplant provides the LVAD until a heart becomes available. In some cases, the LVAD is able to restore the failing heart, eliminating the need for a transplant.
- Destination therapy: Some people are not candidates for heart transplants. In this case, they can receive long-term treatment using an LVAD, which can prolong and improve their lives.
Should you need an implantable or LVAD medical device, our doctors coordinate with the Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS) Program provide technology to those waiting for a heart transplant as well as those who are not able to have a heart transplant.
If lifestyle changes, medication, or a cardiac device are not enough to manage heart failure, a heart transplant may be the next option. During this procedure, surgeons replace a patient’s failing heart with a healthy one from an organ donor.
Should you need this clinic, our doctors will coordinate your care with our Heart Transplant Program.
close Treatment Overview
At Stanford, we understand that women with heart failure have different health needs than men. The specialists at our Women’s Heart Health Clinic recognize the unique concerns women face, including:
Risk factors
More women than men struggle with stress and obesity, which are risk factors that can lead to or worsen heart failure. At our Cardiac Behavioral Medicine Program, we help you address all lifestyle and behavioral factors that can contribute to heart disease.
Diagnosis
Many women with heart disease report many symptoms, not just of heart failure, but of other conditions. Our doctors use the latest technology to pinpoint the cause of your symptoms and arrive at an accurate diagnosis, so you can begin treatment promptly.
Advanced stages
In general, women tend to see a doctor about heart conditions later than men do, so they may be older and have more advanced disease. Women also often have heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (a stiffening of the left ventricle that prevents it from filling up with blood). This type of heart failure may result from chronic hypertension (high blood pressure).
Technology
Women tend to respond especially well to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), which uses a special pacemaker to help the heart’s chambers beat together as they should. At Stanford, we use the latest technology, including smaller pacemakers designed specifically for women.
Research
Research on women with heart failure is lacking, so at Stanford, we conduct research and clinical trials to learn more about the unique health needs of women and put our findings into practice.
close Specialized Care for Women
Clinical Trials
Clinical trials evaluate new medical approaches, devices, drugs, and other treatments. As a Stanford Health Care patient, you may be eligible to participate in open clinical trials.
Open trials refer to studies that are currently recruiting participants or that may recruit participants in the near future. Closed trials are not currently enrolling, but similar studies may open in the future.
What is Heart Failure?
Our Clinics
Our heart specialists provide compassionate care using leading research and the most advanced technology and procedures to treat people with heart failure.
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Phone: 650-723-5468
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