Your heart

Your heart is a muscular pump which sits in your chest behind and slightly to the left of your breastbone.

A normal functioning heart is about the size of your closed fist and weights about 300 grams.

As blood circulates around the body, deoxygenated blood enters the right side of the heart. From there it is pumped to the lungs where it receives oxygen and is then delivered to the left-side of the heart.

The left-side of the heart is responsible for pumping oxygen-enriched blood around the body. Blood exits the heart via the major artery in the body called the aorta.

Heart failure

Heart failure is a progressive condition in which the heart loses its ability to pump enough blood to the body's tissues, organs and limbs.
The heart is no longer able to contract completely and can not eject sufficient blood out on each contraction to supply the body’s needs.
Diagram of a normal heart	An enlarged heart
Heart failure can be caused by a number of factors including viral or bacterial infection, heart valve disease, high blood pressure or scarring of the heart muscle following a heart attack.
Heart disease kills more people in Australia than any other disease according to the Australian Heart Foundation.
The American Heart Association estimates nearly five million people in America suffer from heart failure with 550,000 new cases diagnosed each year.
An estimated 11.2 million people worldwide suffer some type of heart failure.
An estimated one million of these people enter end-stage (New York Heart Association Class IV) heart failure each year and have a life expectancy of less than one year.

Measuring heart failure

One of the most common ways to classify the different stages of heart failure is by using this table developed by the New York Heart Association.

Class	Symptons
Class I (Mild)	No limit on physical activity. Ordinary physical activity does not cause discomfort, undue fatigue, palpitation or shortness of breath.
Class II (Mild)	Slight limitations on physical activity. Comfortable at rest but ordinary physical activity results in fatigue, heart palpitation or shortness of breath.
Class III (Moderate)	Marked limitations on physical activity. Comfortable at rest but less than ordinary activity causes fatigue, heart palpitation or shortness of breath.
Class IV (Severe)	Unable to carry out any physical activity without discomfort.
This information is not a substitute for professional medical advice and is provided only as a guide.

Treatment options

Treatment varies according to the stage of heart failure and each person’s medical history. Each class of heart failure listed here requires different treatments.
A heart transplant has been the only treatment that provides sustained benefit for patients suffering end-stage heart failure.
At present, the donor supply limits heart transplantation to about 3,500 hearts worldwide every year. While advances in drug therapy have been able to improve the quality of life and extend survival for many people suffering heart failure, the survival and quality of life for those with severe failure remains limited.
There is a continuing shortage of donor organs and many patients die while they are on the waiting list for transplantation.
The VentrAssist®LVAD pump	The VentrAssist®LVAD controller
Ventricular assist systems contain pumps that take over the function of the damaged heart and restore blood flow. Most systems assist the left ventricle of the heart and are referred to as left ventricular assist device (LVAD).
First and second-generation LVADs are used in patients who need help until their heart can recover its normal function and in patients waiting for a heart transplant.
First generation pumps are quite large. Some sit outside the body. They have multiple moving parts and have limited service life.
New, smaller, third-generation devices like the VentrAssist®LVAD have the potential for wider use as they promise to provide a permanent alternative to a heart transplant.
Third generation devices like the VentrAssist®LVAD are mechanically superior and have been designed to have minimal wear and cause minimal blood damage.

More information

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