Advanced Heart Failure

As a leader in heart and vascular care in Central Texas, the Scott & White Heart & Vascular Institute is dedicated to providing patients superior care for a range of conditions. As part of this commitment, we have enhanced our treatments for patients suffering from advanced heart failure.

Heart failure means your heart can't pump enough blood to meet your body's needs. Over time, conditions such as coronary artery disease or high blood pressure gradually leave your heart too weak or stiff to fill and pump efficiently.

If you have heart failure, your outlook depends on the cause and the severity, your overall health and other factors such as age. Many people's symptoms and heart function will improve with proper treatment. However, heart failure can be life threatening. It can lead to sudden death. People with severe heart failure have debilitating symptoms, and some may require heart transplantation or support with an artificial heart device.

The Scott & White Heart & Vascular Institute recruited two new physicians, Drs. Nandini Nair and Allan Anderson, to support the advanced heart failure service, along with Drs. Phillip Houck and Robert Scott. Eventually this team will provide the medical support of a heart transplant program. The cardiologists in this service will see advanced heart failure patients, and those who are not candidates for medical or device therapy will be referred to cardiac surgeons at the Scott & White Heart & Vascular Institute for further evaluation.

Physicians in the advanced heart failure clinic can medically treat patients who have had heart transplants and provide follow up care post-surgery.