Heart Failure & Cardiomyopathy

Congestive heart failure is a clinical syndrome where the heart does not pump blood effectively and can lead to fluid build up in the lungs and body which ultimately can cause shortness of breath and swelling of the extremities.

This occurs due to one of the following:

• heart attacks
• high blood pressure
• heart valve defects

More than 5 million people in the U.S. are currently affected by this syndrome with an additional 550,000 people estimated to be diagnosed with heart failure this year.  A person’s lifetime risk of developing heart failure is 1 in 5, making it higher than the risk of developing any cancer.

A National Leader

Fletcher Allen/University of Vermont is one of eight National Institutes of Health-supported research programs in the country.  What does this mean to you as a patient?  It means that you have access to the latest knowledge and some of the greatest expertise found anywhere in the country, right here in Vermont.