To work well and stay healthy, tissues and organs throughout the body need a steady supply of oxygen-rich blood. When heart failure happens, the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the needs of all of the body’s tissues and organs. It does not mean that the heart is no longer working, but rather that it is not working as well as it should.

Though it is a serious condition, doctors have tools to treat many instances of heart failure effectively. Changes to diet and lifestyle can help the heart work better. Medications can relieve symptoms and improve the heart’s ability to pump blood.

In some cases, though, treatment involves surgery. Having heart failure surgery or getting a mechanical device like a pacemaker implanted can be scary. The good news is that the surgical procedures used to treat heart disease can substantially improve heart function and help people with heart disease live longer, healthier lives.

People with heart failure often have difficulty breathing, feel more tired and weak than normal, and may have swelling in their legs and abdomen. Usually, the condition progressively worsens over time, and when heart failure reaches an advanced stage, people may find it hard to perform even routine physical activities.

A number of conditions can cause heart failure, including coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, and heart valve disease, among many others.

For most people with heart failure, treatment involves lifestyle changes and medications. Following a heart healthy diet, staying physically fit, and avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol consumption can improve symptoms and quality of life. Medications may be also used to treat the symptoms of heart failure and to help the heart function better.

Some people with heart failure, though, may benefit from a surgical procedure. Surgical procedures may be used to correct the underlying issues mentioned above, for example. In other cases, such as heart transplantation, surgery is used to treat people with advanced heart failure whose condition cannot be improved with lifestyle changes or medication. In still other cases, treatment involves the surgical implantation of a mechanical device, such as a pacemaker, that helps the heart function properly.

All surgical procedures carry risks. Heart surgery risks include:

• Bleeding
• Infection
• Abnormal heartbeat (arrhythmia)
• Damage to other organs and tissues such as the lungs or kidneys during the procedure
• Stroke
• Heart attack
• Allergic reaction to anesthesia

Heart failure is a chronic condition that typically worsens over time. While treatments, including surgery, usually cannot cure heart failure, they can reduce symptoms, improve quality of life, and help people live longer lives.

A number of factors play a role in determining how well surgery will work for people who have heart failure. A person’s age, overall health apart from heart failure, and severity of heart failure all have an effect on the outcome.

The surgical procedures mentioned above can improve the heart’s ability to pump blood around the body and thus help people breathe easier and feel more energized. People who undergo any of these procedures, though, may need to take medication—possibly for the rest of their lives, make lifestyle changes, and see their doctor regularly to monitor their heart health.

Yale Medicine Cardiac Surgery is a national leader in clinical research, repairing problematic heart conditions, implanting artificial devices, and performing heart transplantation.

“Yale Cardiac Surgery strives to offer extraordinary solutions by being at the forefront of new advanced heart failure therapies,” says Yale Medicine cardiac surgeon, Robert Davis, MD, PhD.