What are the treatment options for Heart Failure?

Medications

After lifestyle and dietary modifications, which include leading an active lifestyle and maintaining a healthy diet to reduce blood pressure and cholesterol, one method for management of heart failure is medications. The types of drugs used to treat heart failure are shown in the table below. Their prescriptions and dosages depend on the severity of symptoms, and they may be used alone or in combination.

Non-pharmacological treatments

A rapidly growing treatment option for patients suffering from heart failure is Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT). When heart failure is associated with disorganized ventricular contractions, special types of implantable devices may be appropriate to deliver CRT. These can either be:

Cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers (CRT-P) pace both ventricles to restore a synchronized cardiac contraction and improve the performance of the heart.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-D) combine the former device with the capability of automatically delivering high-energy electric shocks to stop a sudden, abnormally rapid heart rhythm. Defibrillators are used primarily when heart failure is associated with a high risk of dangerously rapid, abnormal heart rhythms also known as ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation.

There are other non-pharmacological means of treating heart failure.These include surgical techniques to correct contributing factors such as valve repair or replacement, implant of a left ventricular assist device which helps the pumping action of the heart and, ultimately, heart transplantation.

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