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FACT SHEET
Facts About Heart Failure
Overview
 Chronic heart failure occurs when the heart is unable to pump enough blood to sustain
adequate circulation in the body’s tissues.
 The initial onset of heart failure is a decrease in blood output from the left ventricle. In
many cases, this decrease in pumping output is accompanied by errant impulses from
the heart’s electrical system. The combined events can result in accelerated rhythms
that adversely affect the heart’s ability to pump blood and are potentially lethal.
 While heart failure is a serious condition, it is not necessarily the death sentence that its
name suggests. Thousands of heart failure patients live well with the condition.
Symptoms
 Fatigue
 Dyspnea (shortness of breath from any type of exertion)
 Edema (swelling, usually of the feet and ankles)
Causes
 Heart failure is typically a late manifestation of one or more other cardiovascular
diseases, including coronary artery disease, hypertension and valvular disease.
 Numerous other disorders and factors may also contribute to the development of heart
failure, including metabolic disturbances, toxins or infections, hypersensitivity
reactions, and genetic diseases.
 Up to 50 percent of patients with advanced heart failure have electrical conduction
problems within the heart, such as rapid heartbeats, which may contribute to a
worsening of symptoms.1
 As treatment has improved for other heart conditions, particularly myocardial
infarctions (heart attacks), more patients survive the short-term event only to develop
heart failure later.
Facts and Figures
 Heart failure is estimated to afflict nearly 6 million Americans.1
 Heart failure is the only major cardiac disorder that is increasing in prevalence. Each
year, about 670,000 new cases of heart failure are diagnosed in the United States.1
 Heart failure is the most costly cardiovascular disease in the United States at an
estimated cost of nearly $40 billion per year.1
 Estimates for the global population (22 million) are near $80 billion.
 Most heart failure hospitalizations are due to excessive fluid accumulation in the
thoracic cavity.
 Risk of heart failure increases dramatically with age. Heart failure affects approximately
10 of every 1,000 people over the age of 65.1
 For people aged 65-74 years, 54 percent of men and 455 of women with a heart failure

diagnosis will die within 5 years. 2
Heart failure causes or contributes to an estimated 290,000 deaths per year. 2
Treatment Options
 Systolic heart failure is often treated by traditional medical therapy including one or
more of the following: diuretics (“water pills”), ACEI (Angiotensin Converting Enzyme
Inhibitors)/Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers (ARB), and beta blockers.
 Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is a treatment for heart failure that uses an
implantable device to improve the pumping efficiency of the heart and increase blood
flow to the body. By improving blood flow, CRT may help to reduce heart failure
symptoms, improve quality of life and reduce mortality. CRT is intended to
complement standard drug therapy, and dietary and lifestyle modifications.
 Some heart failure patients may also be at risk for sudden cardiac death and are eligible
to receive an implantable-cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), a device that uses electrical
impulses to stop fatal heart rhythms, or a combination CRT/defibrillator.
 Studies have shown that ICD therapy significantly reduces death from sudden cardiac
arrest in patients with heart failure and poor heart pumping function.
CONTACT:
Wendy Dougherty
(763) 526-2853
[email protected]
American Heart Association. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics–2010 Update. Circulation. Available at
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3000090.
1
Brief Statement
Medtronic ICDs and CRT-ICDs
Medtronic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs) are indicated for ventricular antitachycardia pacing and ventricular
defibrillation for automated treatment of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. Medtronic Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy
(CRT) ICDs are indicated for ventricular antitachycardia pacing and ventricular defibrillation for automated treatment of lifethreatening ventricular arrhythmias and for the reduction of the symptoms of moderate to severe heart failure (NYHA Functional
Class III or IV) in those patients who remain symptomatic despite stable, optimal medical therapy and have a left ventricular
ejection fraction less than or equal to 35% and a prolonged QRS duration.
Contraindications
Medtronic ICDs and CRT-ICDs are contraindicated in patients whose ventricular tachyarrhythmias may have transient or
reversible causes, patients with incessant VT or VF, or patients who have a unipolar pacemaker. Medtronic ICDs are also
contraindicated for patients whose primary disorder is bradyarrhythmia.
Warnings and Precautions
Changes in a patient’s disease and/or medications may alter the efficacy of the device’s programmed parameters. Patients should
avoid sources of magnetic and electromagnetic radiation to avoid possible underdetection, inappropriate sensing and/or therapy
delivery, tissue damage, induction of an arrhythmia, device electrical reset, or device damage. Do not place transthoracic
defibrillation paddles directly over the device. Additionally, for CRT-ICDs, certain programming and device operations may not
provide cardiac resynchronization.
Potential Complications
Potential complications include, but are not limited to, rejection phenomena, erosion through the skin, muscle or nerve stimulation,
oversensing, failure to detect and/or terminate tachyarrhythmia episodes, acceleration of ventricular tachycardia, and surgical
complications such as hematoma, infection, inflammation, and thrombosis.
See the device manuals for detailed information regarding the implant procedure, indications, contraindications, warnings, precautions, and
potential complications/adverse events. For further information, please call Medtronic at 1 (800) 328-2518 and/or consult Medtronic’s website
at www.medtronic.com.
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