Addressing Your Heart Failure Challenges
Heart failure is a physical and emotional battle. Along with experiencing pain, discomfort, and lifestyle changes, you also feel the weight of uncertainty about the future. Fortunately, you don’t have to face these obstacles alone. The Baptist Health Heart Failure & Transplant Institute offers a variety of advanced heart failure treatment options to help you regain your quality of life.
We are here to provide expert guidance to advanced heart failure patients, wherever they are in their journey. As Arkansas’s leader in heart care with over 30 years of experience, we offer an unparalleled level of care at The Baptist Health Heart Failure & Transplant Institute. We performed our state’s first heart transplant in 1989, and we continue to lead the way in heart failure treatment. Learn more About the Institute.
What is Congestive Heart Failure?
What is congestive heart failure? Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a long-term condition that impacts your heart’s ability to pump blood effectively. Your heart continues to beat, but the muscle is damaged or weakened. Because your heart is not pumping the amount of blood it should, fluid builds up in other parts of the body, causing health problems that require heart failure treatment.
Common symptoms of CHF include:
- Shortness of breath
- Persistent coughing or wheezing
- Fatigue
- Increased heart rate
- Lack of appetite or nausea
- Confusion or impaired thinking
The Four Stages of Congestive Heart Failure
CHF progresses over time. It is categorized into four stages, Stages A, B, C and D.
- Stage A indicates you’re at a high risk of developing heart failure due to a family history of CHF, or because you have one or more medical conditions. These conditions include hypertension, diabetes, obesity and more.
- Stage B is pre-heart failure, meaning you do not have any symptoms of heart failure, but your heart has structural abnormalities or functional problems.
- Stage C means you have received a CHF diagnosis and have currently or previously exhibited symptoms.
- Stage D is the final stage of heart failure, in which symptoms interfere with your quality of life and do not improve with heart failure treatment.
Causes of Congestive Heart Failure
The primary congestive heart failure cause is coronary artery disease, with risk factors that include high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and lifestyle factors such as smoking, stress and diet. Other common causes include:
- Hypertension
- Genetics (familial cardiomyopathies)
- Heart valve disease
- Heart rhythm problems
- Chemotherapy/radiation
These conditions, among others, impact heart function over time, weakening the heart muscles.
During heart failure treatment at Baptist Health, we take a personalized approach to address the underlying cause(s) of heart failure. Your heart failure treatment begins with a comprehensive examination of your heart’s function, which allows our heart failure specialists to develop custom strategies to help your heart function as well as possible for the rest of your life. No matter which therapies are used, all treatments involve making important lifestyle changes and faithfully taking medications to manage your symptoms.
Learn more about our Treatments.
Comprehensive Heart Failure Treatment Options
The Baptist Health Heart Failure & Transplant Institute offers a wide range of heart failure treatment options, ensuring your heart failure treatment is of the highest caliber possible and unique to your needs. All of our advanced treatment options and therapies are paired with compassionate care. Your life does not stop with a heart failure diagnosis, and we’re here to help you live to the fullest.
Wondering where to begin with your treatment options? Once it has been determined that medications and lifestyle changes alone are not providing you with an adequate quality of life, we will begin to consider surgical therapies. We offer many advanced surgical heart failure treatment options, including:
After comprehensive tests, a heart failure specialist will let you know if you qualify as a candidate for a heart transplant or possibly an LVAD. You and your family will be guided through the difficult decision-making process. Of course, as the patient, you are the ultimate decision maker. Some patients won’t qualify for or want advanced therapies. In these cases, we work closely with patients, helping them manage their heart failure for the rest of their lives.
The Leader in Arkansas Heart Failure Treatment
As a patient in our Heart Failure Program, you have access to the most comprehensive set of heart failure management protocols available in the state, provided by some of the region’s top cardiologists. We have long been leaders in heart failure treatment, completing Arkansas’s first heart transplant in 1989. Since then, we have performed 350 heart transplants. Baptist Health was also the first in Arkansas to implant a left ventricular device (LVAD) and have since implanted 625 of these life-extending devices. We also actively participate in heart failure clinical trials, advancing our collective knowledge about beneficial therapies and providing patients with even more options.
Ultimately, we are here to help you through every potential avenue of heart failure, from management to a ventricular assist device to transplantation.
Next Steps: Getting the Care You Need
Think of your heart failure treatment as a journey. The Baptist Health Heart Failure & Transplant Institute offers a seamless care path through advanced treatment options, from medical management to surgery. We will be your partner through it all, offering expert guidance and comprehensive care, as well as a shoulder to cry on and a hand to high-five. There will be highs and there will be lows, but you can rest assured that you’ll receive expert care from some of the region’s top cardiologists.
Are you ready to take the first step? Visit our Specialists page to connect with the experts, and learn more About the Institute, including our long history and achievements in healthcare.
Remember, heart failure is not the end. With the right heart failure treatment, this could simply be a new phase of life, one that Baptist Health is happy and honored to take on with you.