Advanced heart failure and heart transplant

The Scottish National Advanced Heart Failure Service manages adult patients with severe heart failure. They may be unresponsive to medicines and various other interventions that are on offer at a local and regional level. As a result, these patients can be candidates for heart transplantation.

The service is based at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Clydebank.

What does the advanced heart failure service offer?

It aims to improve survival and long-term quality of life for people with life debilitating advanced heart failure. Treatment options available from the service include the following:

• implantable defibrillators – which are used to regulate abnormal heart rhythms that can cause a cardiac arrest
• cardiac resynchronization devices (CRT) – pacemakers, which treat abnormal heart rhythms that cause the heart to beat too slowly or miss a beat
• ventricular assist devices (VAD) – artificial hearts, which are in use when a patient is waiting for a transplant
• extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) – a technique that oxygenates blood outside the body to rest the heart and lungs
• heart transplantation

Find further information about the Scottish National Advanced Heart Failure Service on the Golden Jubilee National Hospital website.