For some, heart failure is a progressive condition that, with the right care, can be managed for years. Or, it can come on suddenly as the result of an event such as a massive heart attack. Managing heart failure takes an experienced team to explore all the options and, when needed, deliver advanced therapies such as implanted devices and heart transplantation.
“I
never went to the doctor at all,” Don Chapman said of his life before January 2010, when – “like the flip of a switch” – his life changed.
The 65-year-old Milwaukee machinist didn’t have any
noticeable health issues or any indication of heart trouble, until one day at home he told his wife he felt like he was having a heart attack. Chapman went to Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin’s Emergency Department, and it was discovered that the heart attack left his heart so damaged he needed a transplant.
Heart failure can come on suddenly, as it did for Chapman,
or gradually, sometimes over years. The symptoms are different for every individual, and the cause can be just as unique. That’s why caring for patients with advanced heart failure requires a host of expertise, resources, experience and compassion. It also means having a heart failure team dedicated to caring for patients for the long term.
“We have a uniquely close relationship with our patients
and their families throughout their lives,” said Claudius Mahr, DO, a Medical College of Wisconsin advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist and medical director of Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin’s Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation Program. “We want to get people feeling good for as long as possible and offer them treatment choices they otherwise wouldn’t have.”
“We have the resources, the infra- structure and the expertise. And we’re looking at the whole patient. We’ve successfully treated patients here who were declined at other centers.” Claudius Mahr, DO
What is heart Failure? Heart failure refers to the heart’s reduced ability to pump
blood to the rest of the body. It’s a chronic, progressive condition, but people can live for years if they are properly treated.
It’s also a common condition – an estimated 5.7 million
Americans are living with some form, ranging from mild to advanced heart failure. There are more than 200 potential causes, from coronary artery disease, high blood pressure,
n claudius mahr, do
heart attack and diabetes to valvular disease, obesity and viral infection.
Patients with advanced heart failure have generally
worsened over time, despite appropriate treatment. “If patients get to the point that, despite medications
and therapy, they can no longer walk a block or up a flight of stairs without becoming short of breath, that, for the most part, defines them as having advanced heart failure,” Dr. Mahr explained.
accurate diagnosis guides treatment choices “The first thing we do when someone is referred to us with
heart failure is figure out why,” explained Alfred Nicolosi, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin cardiothoracic surgeon and surgical director of the Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation Program. “If they have a cause that is treatable by a more standard procedure, such as coronary bypass or a valve repair, we consider that first. Transplant is a later option.”
“The patients who reach the transplant group are generally
beyond all other therapies, and are mostly looking at mechanical support of a ventricular assist device (VAD), a heart transplant or both, using the VAD as a bridge to transplant until a donor heart becomes available,” Dr. Nicolosi said.
Chapman fell in that bridge-to-transplant group. continued
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