Comprehensive Care for Congestive Heart Failure

Congestive heart failure is a serious and debilitating health condition. It occurs when the heart muscle contracts with too little force, causing less oxygen rich blood to be pumped through the body. Another type of heart failure occurs when the heart contracts normally but the ventricle walls become stiff and don’t relax enough to let the chamber fill, as it should, and the heart has less blood to pump out. Both conditions can lead to restrictive blood flow. This can cause fluid retention or “edema.” 

Causes of Congestive Heart Failure

A number of conditions can contribute to heart failure, including:

  • Weakness of the heart muscle due to heart attack, infections, high blood pressure
  • Problems with heart valves
  • Irregular heart beat
  • Diabetes
  • Obesity
  • Severe lung problems
  • Alcohol and some other drugs
  • Tobacco use

Signs and Symptoms of Congestive Heart Failure

People with heart failure can experience several common symptoms resulting from insufficient blood flow to the heart. These symptoms include:

  • Weight gain of 2 lbs. in 24 hours or 3–4 pounds in a week
  • New shortness of breath or waking up with a cough
  • Swollen legs or feet, stomach fullness, nausea or vomiting
  • Tiredness or fatigue

Congestive heart failure can be mild or severe and tends to get worse over time. However, appropriate treatment can slow the progression and even improve symptoms and function.

Integrated, Personalized Care for Congestive Heart Failure Patients 

At Catholic Health, we offer the highest level of care to help you better manage your condition and reduce the frequency and duration of hospital visits. Our multidisciplinary approach and personalized treatment plans meet the specific health needs for patients at all stages of congestive heart failure.

The Congestive Heart Failure Program at St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center offers comprehensive, personalized care. We provide state-of-the-art disease management interventions to reduce the frequency and duration of hospital visits as well as a thorough approach to diagnoses of all stages of heart failure. Our areas of expertise include cardio-oncology, ECMO, LVAD, cardiac amyloidosis, cardiac sarcoidosis, pulmonary hypertension and cardiogenic shock.

St. Francis Hospital’s Center for Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics offers multidisciplinary, all-inclusive care at all stages of heart failure. Our physicians have broad expertise in evaluating and managing patients with weakened heart muscles. 

Our program, which also has a partnership with the Heart Valve Center, offers a wide variety of treatments including:

  • Medical therapy
  • Heart-assisting technology (LVAD, VAD, and ECMO)
  • Heart failure management
  • Patient education

We also offer a LVAD Support Group for patients coping with LVAD to help them transition back to their daily living activities smoothly. 

Clinical Trials

St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center is a major enroller in clinical trials that are expanding the treatment option for congestive heart failure patients. We are currently enrolled in the following trials, all of which have the potential to enhance the quality of life of patients with heart failure:

  • Corcinch Trial
  • Alleviate
  • Allay HF
  • Victor Trial
  • Plant-based, heart-healthy diet

St. Francis Hospital Center for Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics

At the St. Francis Hospital Center for Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics (Roslyn, NY), an inpatient and outpatient team of board-certified heart failure cardiologists and cardiac nurses work together to deliver safe, effective and compassionate care for patients with weakened heart muscles. Our multidisciplinary approach and personalized treatment plans meet the specific health needs for patients at all stages of heart failure.

Comprehensive treatment options include medical therapy, heart-assisting technology like a ventricular assist device (VAD) and heart-failure management and education. Treatment options depend on the stage of heart failure and the severity of your condition.

  • Acute and end-stage heart failure
  • Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction
  • Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction
  • Pulmonary hypertension
  • Cardiac amyloidosis
  • Cardiac sarcoidosis
  • Cardiogenic shock

You may be able to manage your heart failure with medication, diet and exercise. You may also benefit from an intravenous (IV) therapy administered on an outpatient basis. These medications can alleviate the symptoms of heart failure and help you feel better.

A medical device may be necessary when medication and lifestyle changes are not enough. These include:

  • CardioMEMs. This device helps measure the pressure in your pulmonary artery—an early indicator of worsening heart failure—and allows your heart team to monitor your heart remotely.
  • Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD). This implantable device helps blood pump through your body. For those with late-stage heart failure, the LVAD can improve quality of life or serve as a bridge to a heart transplant. The LVAD program at St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center is certified by The Joint Commission.

Meet the Team

Rita Anne Jermyn, MD

Rita A. Jermyn, MD

Director of The Center for Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics

Edward Lundy

Edward Lundy, MD

Surgical Director of LVAD Program

Patrick Monteleone

Patrick Monteleone, MD

Physician, Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics

Ailia Rizvi, DO

Ailia Rizvi, DO

Physician, Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics

Ryan Murphy, DO

Ryan Murphy, DO

Cardiology

Congestive Heart Failure Services

St. Francis Hospital exterior

St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center

Roslyn, NY

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