Heart Failure Services

UPMC is a national leader in innovative approaches to advanced heart failure care.

Together, our multidisciplinary team of experts strives to provide leading-edge, compassionate care that improves outcomes, no matter how complex your condition.

What Are Heart Failure Services at UPMC?

UPMC is a full-service heart failure center, providing expert care for patients of any age with heart failure (CHF). Our center is one of the largest in the U.S. and our team is known for excellence in:

• Heart transplantation.
• Heart and lung transplantation.
• Ventricular assist device (VAD) treatment.

At UPMC, you have access to state-of-the-art heart treatments and procedures, such as:

• Evaluations and referrals for heart transplantation or VAD therapy.
• Standard and minimally invasive procedures.
• Traditional medical therapy.
• Various wearable or implantable devices for heart failure.

What conditions do we treat?

Our experts provide comprehensive treatment for advanced heart failure.

Who’s eligible for heart failure services?

If you’ve been diagnosed with heart failure, our experts can provide you with a full range of treatment options tailored to your condition, goals, and preferences.

What Heart Failure Care Services Do You Offer?

Our heart specialists:

• Determine the best approach for you.
• Emphasize care of the whole person — not just your heart.
• Deliver state-of-the-art heart treatments tailored to your needs.

Whether treatment involves recovery, repair, or replacement, you can be confident that you're receiving superior cardiac care from a team that's among the best in the world. Treatment options include:

Lifestyle changes

Your doctor will work with you to help you quit smoking, exercise, manage your weight, and adopt a heart-healthy diet to ease the workload for your heart.

Medication

In many cases, drugs can reduce symptoms and complications of heart failure. Managing heart failure with medication is a time-tested strategy that has helped people live better lives for years.

Every medicine has side effects and risks, but the risks are usually not as serious as leaving heart failure untreated. Never stop taking medications without talking to your doctor. Your doctor may prescribe medications including:

Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors

• How do ACE inhibitors work?
• Block a hormone that increases blood pressure and worsens heart failure.
• Regulate blood pressure to improve cardiac function.
• Drug names
• Captopril (Capoten®)
• Enalapril (Vasotec®)
• Lisinopril (Prinivil®)

Beta blockers

• How do beta blockers work?
• Block the hormones to reduce the stress on the heart.
• Keep stimulating hormones like epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine away from the heart's beta receptors.
• Often used in conjunction with ACE inhibitors.
• Drug names
• Carvedilol (Coreg®)
• Metoprolol (Toprol-XL®)

Diuretics (water pills)

• How do diuretics work?
• Increase urination to help the kidneys eliminate excess fluid from the body.
• Often used together with a low-sodium diet.
• Drug names
• Bumetanide (Bumex®)
• Ethacrynic acid (Edecrin®)
• Furosemide (Lasix®)
• Hydrochlorothiazide (HydroDIURILl®)

Monitoring heart failure

If you are living with heart failure, your doctor will help you determine the best way to monitor your condition and reduce your chance of future hospitalizations.

Self-management skills

Doctors recommend that people with heart failure develop good self-management skills to help them manage their condition. These self-management skills include:

• Weighing yourself and recording your weight daily, reporting any gains of more than 2-3 pounds over two days or 4-5 pounds over one week to your doctor.
• Following a low-sodium diet.
• Taking all the medications your doctor prescribes.

Your doctor can also provide recommendations for limiting your fluid intake, getting regular exercise, and quitting smoking, all of which can help manage your heart failure.

CardioMEMS™ HF System

Select patients may be eligible for the CardioMEMS HF System. Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2014, the system uses a small sensor implanted in your pulmonary artery and an external electronic system to transmit information directly to your doctor's office.

With the CardioMEMS HF System, you take daily readings of your pulmonary artery pressure from home. The readings are delivered securely to your doctor's office through an external electronic system. These readings can help your doctor determine if your condition is getting worse before you have symptoms. Your doctor can then adjust your medication or treatment plan and help you avoid hospitalization.

Surgery for heart failure

If other treatments have not helped to manage your heart failure, your doctor may recommend a surgical procedure. Surgical treatment options include:

• Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery — People with severe coronary artery disease may benefit from a CABG procedure to redirect blood flow to the heart.
• Destination VAD therapy — If you're not a candidate for a heart transplant, VADs may remain in place indefinitely. This growing treatment path is known as destination VAD therapy.
• Heart valve surgery — In some cases, the heart valves are so weak that surgery may be necessary. Our surgeons are experts at repairing and replacing damaged valves.
• Heart transplant — When other treatments are not successful, a heart transplant may be the best option. UPMC was one of the first medical centers to perform heart transplants.
• Pacemaker or implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) — When medical management is not enough, our specialists may recommend a temporary or permanent device — like a defibrillator or a pacemaker — to help regulate the heart rhythm of your damaged heart.
• Ventricular assist devices (VADs) — In many cases, a VAD is the best treatment solution. VADs work mechanically to support the heart or improve blood circulation. They can act as a bridge to transplantation until a suitable donor organ becomes available, or until the heart muscle recovers on its own.

Palliative care

UPMC specialists offer palliative care, which helps to treat symptoms of heart failure and side effects of treatment. Our team also offers comprehensive, compassionate end-of-life care, if necessary.

What Can I Expect from Heart Failure Services at UPMC?

Our team includes heart failure-trained cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, interventional cardiologists, bioengineers, advanced practice providers (APPs), and other medical experts. They will create a comprehensive plan to manage your heart failure and reduce your risk of complications.

Before your visit

To prepare for your visit with your heart failure expert, you will be asked to provide:

• A referral, if required by your health insurance company.
• Name, address, and contact phone number.
• Insurance information.
• Relevant medical records.
• Test results that document your heart failure, if any.

If you get a referral from your primary care doctor or another physician, they may be able to provide your test results and medical records to our team.

During your visit

When you arrive for your first appointment, you'll meet with one of the heart failure providers. This may include a nurse practitioner or physician assistant in addition to a physician.

He or she will ask about your medical history and heart failure symptoms. Your provider will review your prior testing (if available) and discuss your diagnosis, treatment plan, and any recommendations in detail.

Your treatment plan will be tailored to you based on the type of heart failure you have, symptoms, testing results, and goals.

We'll give you a:

• A tailored patient education packet for you to take home.
• Complete education session about heart failure symptoms, risks, and treatments (PDF).

Together, we will design and agree on a care plan.

Treatments may include:

• An overnight stay in the hospital.
• Blood tests, imaging of your heart such as an echocardiogram or cardiac MRI, or other tests such as exercise testing or a heart catheterization.

If you need a test or procedure, we'll schedule it before you leave the office.

After your heart failure treatment

Our team will schedule follow-up appointments as needed to check in with you about how your treatment is working. You should contact our office if:

• You have questions about your treatment plan or medications.
• Your symptoms get worse or do not improve as expected.
• You have any other concerns about your condition.

How Do I Get Care at UPMC For CHF?

Your heart failure experts

Our heart failure team includes:

• Cardiologists and cardiac surgeons.
• Nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
• Clinical nursing specialists.
• Bioengineers.
• Dietitians and exercise physiologists.
• Social workers.
• Palliative care providers.

Heart Failure Resources

• 2025 Managing Heart Failure Planner (PDF)
• A Guide to Living With Heart Failure (PDF)
• Follow a Low-Sodium Diet (PDF)
• Limit Your Fluid Intake (PDF)
• Stay Active (PDF)
• Take Your Medications (PDF)

By UPMC Editorial Staff. Last reviewed on 2024-10-01.