Piedmont Augusta Heart Failure Center

Advanced Heart Failure – Adding Life to Lives

Piedmont Augusta's Advanced Heart Failure Program is dedicated to supporting patients with advanced heart failure by providing expert care management by a multidisciplinary team led by specialized physicians who are board-certified in advanced heart failure and cardiac transplantation. The goal is to ensure each patient receives the best course of treatment to improve his or her quality of life and prevent unexpected rehospitalizations.

Services Offered

• Remote Fluid MonitoringRemote monitoring now offers more timely recognition of worsening heart failure even before the onset of symptoms. This has significantly reduced hospital readmissions.
• CardioMems™ Implantation: This battery-free sensor implanted in the pulmonary artery of heart failure patients measures a patient’s pulmonary artery pressures from home. This information helps the physicians proactively manage heart failure before patients have symptoms to avoid hospitalizations.
• Left-Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD): This device supports the function of the left ventricle of the heart. The LVAD includes tubes to carry blood out of the heart and to the blood vessels. It has a power source and a control unit to monitor the device function. The device may be used to support the heart until it recovers, to support the heart while the patient waits for a heart transplant, or to help the heart work better if the patient is not eligible for a heart transplant. Since starting at Piedmont Augusta in 2017, Piedmont Augusta was the first and remains the only hospital in the region to offer this lifesaving procedure.
• Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO): This technique helps to support critically ill patients by providing artificial heart and lung support. This has been very helpful in saving patients with severe flu and cardiogenic shock.