Heart Failure

Heart failure is a serious condition that requires expert care. At the Weill Cornell Medicine Perkin Center for Heart Failure, our team of world-class cardiologists uses the most advanced diagnostic tools, imaging technology, and therapies to treat and manage heart failure. We work hard to diagnose and treat heart failure as early as possible, as well as provide long-term care that gives our patients the best possible outcomes. 

What is Heart Failure?

Heart Failure, occurs when the heart can't pump enough blood to meet the body’s demands and to compensate there may be both a pressure and volume overload that occurs that ultimately may become pathological. A “struggling heart” may often become enlarged and/or lead to fluid retention and congestion. fluid. 

Affecting more than 5 million Americans, heart failure is often a long-term (chronic) condition but may also develop suddenly.

The most common risk factors for heart failure are:

• Diabetes
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Coronary artery disease
• Valvular heart disease
• Certain genetic differences may lead the heart to be more vulnerable

Some of the less common causes of “systolic heart failure” include cardiac noncompaction, be a result of cancer treatment, systemic illnesses which may affect the heart including connective tissue and inflammatory diseases (sarcoid, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma spectrum of disease), or fatty infiltration of the heart (ARVD).

In younger patients, heart failure is often caused by myocarditis—an inflammatory response commonly brought about by a viral illness. 

In elderly patients, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is increasingly recognized as the most common form of heart failure where the “pumping function” is normal but the heart functions at elevated pressures to generate the cardiac output and may often be associated with hypertension, diabetes, post-menopausal status, overweight and atrial fibrillation. 

Conditions We Treat

Heart failure is complex and can lead to many different types of heart problems. Other cardiac disorders may have similar symptoms as heart failure, including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, amyloid heart each of which have specialized treatments.. Therefore, it is important for patients to visit an experienced cardiologist who specializes in heart failure. 

We strive to diagnose and treat heart failure as early as possible and provide our patients with long-term care to achieve the best possible outcomes.

At Weill Cornell Medicine, we treat: 

• Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction (HFrEF), often called “systolic failure,” and provide advanced therapies including left ventricular assist devices and cardiac transplantation
• Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF), often called “diastolic failure,” and Cardiac Amyloidosis through our dedicated Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction Program (one of just a few such dedicated programs in the country) led by Parag Goyal, M.D., MSc., an advanced heart failure physician and geriatric cardiologist
• Pulmonary hypertension (Groups 1-5)  and right-sided heart failure
• Inflammatory cardiomyopathies including Cardiac Sarcoidosis in close collaboration with Hospital for Special Surgery
• Heart failure in patients with active or prior cancer, in close collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Heart failure in patients with congenital heart disease in collaboration with our Adult Congenital Heart Disease Specialists

Our Approach

Our team offers a wide variety of treatments, based on each patient’s specific needs. We may treat heart failure with: 

• Medications
• Minimally invasive (catheter-based) and other cardiac surgery techniques
• Mechanical circulatory support devices
• Heart transplant 

Our team of cardiologists, nurse practitioners, dieticians, physical therapists, and social workers work collaboratively to provide comprehensive care and maximize our patient’s quality of life.