part of the thickened septum that’s bulging into the left ventricle. This improves blood flow within the heart and out to the body.
Surgically Implanted Devices: Surgeons can implant several types of devices in the body to help the heart work better, including:
- Pacemaker: This small device uses electrical pulses to prompt the heart to beat at a normal rate.
- Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) Device: This device coordinates contractions between the heart’s left and right ventricles.
- Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD): This implantable device helps the heart pump blood to the body. An LVAD can be used for long-term therapy or as an interim treatment for those awaiting a heart transplant.
- Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD): An ICD helps to maintain a normal heartbeat by sending an electric shock to the heart if an arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, is detected.
Heart Transplant: In a heart transplant surgery, a person’s diseased heart is replaced with a healthy heart from a deceased donor. A heart transplant is a last resort for people who have end-stage heart failure. (“End-stage” means that all other treatment options have been explored, without success.)
Alcohol Septal Ablation (nonsurgical procedure): In this procedure, your doctor injects ethanol (a type of alcohol) through a tube into the small artery that supplies blood to the thickened area of the heart muscle affected by cardiomyopathy. The alcohol kills cells, and the thickened tissue shrinks to more normal size.
When treating transthyretin (TTR) cardiac amyloidosis, the main objectives are to stop the disease from getting worse, manage any conditions that cause or contribute to the disease, reduce complications and the risk of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), and to control symptoms so that you can live as normally as possible. If you’re suffering from amyloidosis, there are many options out there for you.
For more information on heart health and heart failure, visit our Health Conditions page on BlackDoctor.org.
Tia Muhammad, BS, is an award-winning freelance content & media creative, copywriter, blogger, digital designer, and marketing consultant. She owns the boutique content and digital media company, jackieGLDN|studio.