Heart Failure

Overview CardioMEMS

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a condition where weakened or stiff heart muscles reduce the heart’s ability to pump blood effectively, impacting the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the body. CHF can result from coronary artery disease, heart attacks, high blood pressure, and cardiomyopathy. Symptoms of CHF vary widely and may include shortness of breath, fluid buildup and weight gain, irregular heartbeat, dizziness, and fatigue. Treatments range from lifestyle and diet changes and medications to transplants, and other surgical procedures.

If you’re referred to the Heart Failure Clinic at CMC’s New England Heart & Vascular Institute (NEHVI), you’ll start with an initial consultation with a trained heart failure provider. Nurses play a crucial role on this team, monitoring your symptoms, adjusting your medications, and educating you about disease management.

The Heart Failure Clinic takes a coordinated approach to treating CHF. Whether you’re newly diagnosed or experiencing advanced symptoms, caregivers from NEHVI, along with other CMC departments and partners, collaborate to provide comprehensive services and resources in one place. You become part of a dedicated team focused on educating and empowering you to manage your condition effectively, stay out of the hospital, and increase your awareness about your overall health.

At the Heart Failure Clinic, you’ll find a full range of coordinated services to address your needs. Our team includes experts in:

For more information or to get a referral to the Heart Failure Clinic, ask your cardiologist or primary care provider, or call:

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Why choose CMC?

Our Heart Failure Clinic provides expert care for complex heart failure patients and seamlessly transitions those needing advanced procedures to Boston. This allows for local follow-up in a shared model, including patients with implantable left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) and post-heart transplant patients on anti-rejection medications.

Patients with advanced CHF are less likely to live symptom-free and need more services and treatments than those who have been recently diagnosed or are successfully managing their condition.

The Heart Failure Clinic offers several services for patients with Advanced Heart Failure, which are listed below.

Advanced CHF Cardiology Care

Depending on the severity of their symptoms, advanced CHF patients are usually scheduled for more frequent in-office visits or telephone triage with one of our experienced heart failure nurses. We also evaluate the need for ongoing symptom management and referral for advanced therapies (like an implanted device or transplant procedure), provide local follow up care, and care coordination for patients who have procedures at Boston hospitals.

Infusion Therapy

Infusion therapy provides continuous medication support to patients with certain hard-to-manage CHF symptoms. The Heart Failure Clinic coordinates IV Lasix therapies for patients who have not had success with oral diuretics, as well as inotropes to increase exercise tolerance. Therapies typically begin in the hospital and are continued at home. Infusion therapy may also be offered in a clinical outpatient setting.

CardioMEMS^TM

Advanced CHF patients who’ve had at least one hospital admission within the last year and have ongoing symptoms are evaluated for the CardioMEMS^TMHeart Failure System. This device helps patients manage their CHF from home, reducing the likelihood of a hospital stay, by continuously and remotely monitoring the pressure inside a patient’s lung (which is an indication of fluid buildup around the heart). The care team can then adjust medications as necessary without an office visit. NEHVI has the most advanced CardioMEMS^TM program in New England and one of the most experienced in the country.

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IMPELLA 5.5^TM

This new technology enables heart recovery in patients whose hearts are too weak to effectively pump blood on their own after a heart attack. The Impella 5.5 is a heart pump that is temporarily implanted minimally invasively in a patient’s heart. It reduces the heart’s workload and oxygen demand, which enables the heart to rest and recover, and it supplies much needed blood and oxygen to the patient’s other vital organs.