Diagnostic and Medical Care for Heart Failure
Using highly advanced diagnostic equipment, our physicians aim to uncover the specific cause of congestive heart failure. After a thorough evaluation, University of Chicago Hospitals heart failure specialists select the best treatment plan to help prevent or slow down the progression of the condition. These treatments are designed to reduce fatigue, shortness of breath, swelling, and other complications associated with heart failure.
Some of the services provided include:
- Personalized recommendations for lifestyle changes that can slow the progression of heart failure or other cardiac disease.
- Outpatient electrocardiography (EKG or ECG) to study the electrical function of the heart to help diagnose underlying heart disease.
- Access to a wide array of heart failure medications. Our heart failure specialists have many years of experience in prescribing the best, most balanced combination of heart medicines for each patient. Often, University of Chicago Hospitals cardiologists can prescribe new or experimental medicines that are not widely available.
- A dedicated cardiac catheterization laboratory, with full diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities. Catheterization treatments--such as angioplasty and stent implants--are used to improve blood flow by reopening blocked blood vessels. Our interventional cardiologists also offer intracoronary radiation to reduce renarrowing of blood vessels after treatment.
- Evaluation and treatment of heart rhythm disorders. Treatments include transvenous pacemaker insertions, radiofrequency ablation for arrhythmias, and pharmacological regimens.
- Advanced echocardiography testing, or tests that use sound waves to create a picture of the heart to determine valve function and blood flow.
More Information
- Diagnostic and Medical Care
- Surgical Care
- Ventricular Reconstruction
- Ventricular Assist Devices
- Heart Transplantation
- Research
