Heart Failure Care

UC San Diego Health provides comprehensive, compassionate care for patients with all stages of heart failure, both acute and chronic.

Our collaborative approach offers you access to the latest diagnostic and treatment options, as well as research studies evaluating new therapies.

Led by Drs. Eric Adler, Marcus Anthony Urey and Howie Tran, our multi-disciplinary team includes cardiac imaging specialists, electrophysiologists, interventional cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons. We have dedicated clinics and a pharmacist just for heart failure patients.

What is Heart Failure?

Heart failure, also known as congestive heart failure, happens when the heart doesn't pump as much blood as the body needs. The term "failure" doesn't mean that the heart has stopped, only that it is not pumping blood effectively.Read more about heart failure and its causes

Treatment Options

Although there is no cure for heart failure due to damaged heart muscle, many forms of treatment have been used to treat symptoms very effectively.

We create treatment plans to fit each patient's age and medical history, the cause, type and stage of heart failure, and personal preferences. Options may include:

• Medications
• Cardiac resynchronization (pacemakers and defibrillators)
• Ablation therapy for arrhythmias
• Alcohol septal ablation for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
• Coronary artery bypass grafting
• Heart valve replacement or repair
• Ventricular assist devices (VADs)
• Heart transplant

ECMO Expertise

ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) is a life-support technology that replaces the function of the heart and/or lungs. It is typically used to support patients with heart or lung disease while they either recover or wait for an organ transplant.

See also:

• ECMO
• Inpatient Transfer Services

Our expertise with ECMO includes:

• Ability to provide ECMO support followed by advanced respiratory and cardiovascular care and therapies, including VAD and heart and lung transplant
• Management by a multidisciplinary team of physicians trained in emergency medicine, cardiovascular medicine, and pulmonary disease, along with nurses and trained respiratory therapists
• Member of Extracorporeal Life Support Organization