Specialties

Our team of expert cardiology and cardiothoracic specialists provide a comprehensive range of cardiac care and surgery services for adult patients including specialized treatment for highly complex cardiac cases such as congestive heart failure (CHF), and heart transplantation. The Advanced Heart Failure, Mechanical Circulatory Support, and Transplant Program at University of Colorado is the only one in the state where heart transplantations and placement of durable left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) are performed. We provide state-of-the art treatments for people with heart failure. The program is also widely known for its expertise in clinical, genetics, basic, translational and outcomes research. 

We are focused on the providing comprehensive, personalized care to people with heart failure. Our multidisciplinary team has 8 cardiologists board-certified in Advanced Heart Failure, 5 nurse practitioners, and 3 heart failure nurse coordinators, 4 LVAD nurse coordinators, 6 transplant nurse coordinators, a transplant pharmacist, and dedicated nutrition, social work, psychology, physical medicine and financial services. Patients are cared for on the Anschutz Medical Campus in the Heart and Vascular Center, the Transplant Center, and on an inpatient hospital service dedicated exclusively to patients with advanced heart failure, mechanical cardiac-assist devices, and cardiac transplantation. The whole group is committed to providing the highest quality care to patients with complex heart disease.

Our team collaborates with other specialists in the fields of interventional cardiology (e.g. structural heart procedures including percutaneous valve repair [e.g. MitraClip]), electrophysiology (ablation of atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia, placement of ICDs and CRT pacemakers), advanced cardiac imaging services (including echo, CT, MRI, PET etc.), adult congenital heart disease, cardiac surgery, and more.

Heart failure, or “congestive” heart failure, is a condition in which the heart can no longer pump the necessary volume of oxygenated blood to the body. This can result from diseases that weaken the heart muscles, diseases that cause stiffening of the heart muscle, or diseases that put increased demands on the circulatory system, such as hyperthyroidism and anemia.

Many conditions that lead to heart failure cannot be reversed, but heart failure can often be treated both surgically and medically with good results. Medications can improve the symptoms, and lifestyle changes can improve your quality of life. Additionally, there are surgical options for the treatment of heart failure and its symptoms.

We provide the following services to our patients for the treatment of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF):

Heart Transplant
Patients who have advanced heart failure but are otherwise relatively healthy may be considered for a heart transplant. A heart transplant is the replacement of patient’s diseased heart with a more healthy donor heart. The University of Colorado’s Heart Transplant Program has been in existence since 1986 and is the only Medicare-certified heart transplant program in Colorado.

Mechanical Circulatory Support
A ventricular assist device (VAD) is a type of mechanical pump that is used to augment the flow of oxygenated blood from the heart to the body. A ventricular assist device can be surgically implanted in the chest cavity or worn outside of the body. A VAD can be used as a short- or long-term treatment for advanced heart failure. \

Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO)
Extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation is a technique in which a patient’s blood is withdrawn from a large vein in the body, passed through a pumping mechanism and a device that both adds oxygen and removes carbon dioxide. The blood is then returned to the patient’s circulatory system where it is circulated throughout the body. This system functions as both heart (for pumping) and lungs (adding oxygen to and removing carbon dioxide from) the lungs. ECMO is typically a short-term treatment protocol for patients in respiratory failure resulting from such things as infection, pneumonia, trauma, or smoke inhalation.