No matter what field of medicine a clinician practices in, everyone will see heart failure patients. With the ACC and AHA projecting that the prevalence of heart failure will increase by 46% from 2012 to 2030 resulting in 8 million patients with the disease, heart failure is here to stay. So, what do you do when all guideline-directed medical therapies fail patients? Is there another treatment option for these patients? The answer is yes! Advanced heart failure therapies such as Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs) and heart transplantation are giving heart failure patients the chance to begin again, but they rely on providers to get them the help they need in a small window of time. This session will discuss these therapies in detail and help providers identify which patients could benefit from these therapies today, thereby saving their life tomorrow.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this activity, participants should be able to:

• Identify markers of advanced heart failure through the application of the ACC, "I NEED HELP" tool and the Interagency Registry of Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support (INTERMACS) patient profile
• Recognize the indications and contraindications for advanced heart failure therapies
• Describe the basic function and limitations of Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) therapy
• Describe the basic function and limitations of heart transplantation therapy
• Define when to refer a patient, as advanced heart failure markers are present