Enjoying Life While Managing Heart Failure
Blocked arteries can decrease blood flow to the heart—causing heart failure or other heart problems, or making heart failure worse. Procedures to open blocked arteries are often done in the cardiac catheterization lab (“cath lab”). Sometimes surgery is a better choice.
A catheter with a tiny balloon on the end is placed into the blocked artery in the cath lab. When the balloon is inflated, the blockage is pushed to the sides of the artery to open it up. A small metal device called a stent may be placed in the artery to keep it open.
A vein from your leg or an artery from your chest is used to re-route the blood flow around the blocked artery.
Sometimes heart failure is caused or worsened by a damaged heart valve. If so, surgery to repair or replace a damaged heart valve may also improve heart failure.
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