What Is Heart Failure?

If you have heart failure, your heart can’t pump enough blood to meet your body’s demand. However, expert heart failure care can help you manage the condition and improve your quality of life.

Our Advanced Heart Failure and LVAD Program helps people with heart failure live the healthiest life possible. You receive expert care from cardiologists, electrophysiologists, interventional cardiologists, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, dietitians, social workers and palliative care specialists who develop your customized treatment plan. 

As our patient, you have access to nationally recognized heart failure experts. Ours was the first heart failure program in the Pacific Northwest to receive accreditation from the American College of Cardiology. We are also proud recipients of the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Heart Failure Gold Award. Our long-standing commitment to providing comprehensive, high-quality heart failure care earned us these distinctions.

Heart failure symptoms depend on how severe the condition is and whether it affects your heart’s left or right side. Common signs of heart failure include:

• Bluish lips or fingernails
• Confusion or trouble concentrating 
• Cough or wheezing
• Fatigue and tiredness
• Loss of appetite or nausea
• Heart palpitations (feeling of heart racing or pounding)
• Low energy or inability to perform daily activities 
• Shortness of breath and trouble breathing
• Sudden weight gain or loss
• Swelling in your legs, abdomen or hands

Damage to your heart is the most common cause of heart failure, which can result from:

• Arrhythmias
• Cardiomyopathy
• Congenital (present at birth) heart conditions
• Coronary artery disease (CAD)
• Diabetes
• Heart valve disease
• High blood pressure
• Infections that affect your heart

You may be more likely to develop heart failure if you:

• Are over age 65
• Do not get regular physical activity
• Eat a diet high in fat, cholesterol and sodium
• Have a family history of heart failure
• Have obesity
• Regularly drink excessive amounts of alcohol
• Smoke

Specialists in our Advanced Heart Failure and LVAD Program carefully evaluate your symptoms and health history to determine which tests you need. We offer the full spectrum of cardiac tests, from advanced nuclear cardiology tests to cardiac catheterization. If you might have an inherited type of heart failure, we also offer genetic testing for you and your immediate family members. Learn more about our leading-edge diagnosis and testing.

Treating heart failure requires a customized approach that considers your unique needs. Depending on your symptoms and the stage of disease, your treatment may include: 

• Lifestyle changes: Registered dietitians and exercise physiologists can help you develop heart-healthy eating and activity habits. You may also benefit from smoking cessation and stress management resources. Social workers can also help with disease education and resources to help with daily life. Learn more about how we support healthy lifestyle changes in our cardiac rehabilitation program.
• Medications: Medications can remove excess fluid from your body and make it easier for your heart to pump blood. 
• Implantable devices: When lifestyle changes and medications aren’t enough, a pacemaker or implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) may help. We use minimally invasive methods, including leadless pacemakers, so you have a faster and easier recovery. Learn more about pacemakers and implantable devices.
• Mechanical circulatory support: Patients with advanced heart failure may benefit from technology that helps their heart pump more oxygen-rich blood throughout their body. This technology includes the left ventricular assist device (LVAD), Impella heart pump and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Only the most comprehensive and advanced heart failure programs offer these treatments.

Contact us to learn more about heart failure care or to schedule an appointment.