Heart Failure/Transplant Center

Heart failure is a condition in which the heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs. Heart failure develops over time as the heart’s pumping action grows weaker. The leading causes of heart failure are diseases that damage the heart. These include coronary heart disease (CHD), also called coronary artery disease; high blood pressure; and diabetes. About 5.7 million people in the United States have heart failure, and it results in about 300,000 deaths each year.

Physicians at the Minneapolis Heart Institute are involved in numerous research studies of promising medications, devices, and stem cell angiogenesis. Because of this, our heart failure patients often gain access to new therapies available only through clinical studies.

Our Transplant research focuses on new approaches to therapies for patients with severe heart failure and those who are awaiting heart transplantation. Due to the limited supply of donor hearts available, less than 3000 transplantations are performed annually in the US, therefore it is not an option for a majority of patients with severe heart failure. Therapeutic options for those with advanced disease are limited.

Our research studies are helping to define new therapies both medically and surgically that may become standard practice in the clinical setting in the future. We study new drugs and new devices to assist with circulatory support.

Additionally research is conducted on heart tissue in transplant patients to gain a better understanding of the disease process and to improve clinical management.