Heart Failure and Transplant Procedures

Right Heart Catheterization is an invasive test that can show how well your heart is pumping. A cardiologist inserts a thin, flexible tube called Swan-Ganz catheter into a vein in your neck, groin or arm. Then they thread it through the right side of your heart into your pulmonary artery to measure each chamber pressure oxygen saturation and the power of the heart.

Myocardial Biopsy is a diagnostic procedure. It involves removing a small amount of tissue from the inner lining of your heart muscle called myocardium. A specialist in a lab (pathologist) examines the tissue under a microscope. They look for changes in cells that indicate damage or abnormalities. 

The CardioMEMS HF System makes it possible for doctors to closely monitor patients with heart failure without their leaving home. A small sensor is implanted in your pulmonary artery; the sensor measures and records your pulmonary artery pressure, and that information is transmitted to your cardiologist.

 A ventricular assist device (VAD) is a device that helps pump blood from the lower chambers of the heart to the rest of the body. It's a treatment for a weakened heart or heart failure. A VAD may be used to help the heart work while waiting for other treatments, such as a heart transplant. Sometimes a VAD is used to permanently help the heart pump blood.

Heart Transplant is an operation in which a failing heart is replaced with a healthier donor heart. Heart transplant is a treatment that's usually reserved for people whose condition hasn't improved enough with medications or other surgeries.

While a heart transplant is a major operation, your chance of survival is good with appropriate follow-up care.