• Total artificial heart. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved clinical trials for a fully implantable total artificial heart. The grapefruit-sized device is powered by a battery that can be recharged from outside the body without the need for tubes to pass through the skin. Subjects of the study are end-stage heart failure patients who are not eligible for a heart transplant, cannot be helped by other available therapies and are at imminent risk of death.

  • Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). A form of therapeutic angiogenesis currently being studied in a trial named VIVA (VEGF for Ischemia in Vascular Angiogenesis). Phase I clinical trials of intracoronary (directly into the heart) and intravenous (IV) injection of VEGF have shown promising results. Researchers found that patients experienced significant improvement in angina and quality of life by day 120 of the trial. Research is ongoing.

  • Heart jacket. A synthetic, elastic material that is surgically attached and wrapped around the heart surface. The mesh-like fabric supports the ventricles (the heart’s lower chambers), providing a snug fit but without constricting the heart. The goal is to reverse remodeling of the left ventricle. Remodeling was assumed to be irreversible. But recent successes with beta blockers and ventricular assist devices show that remodeling can be improved. In earlier animal and now human studies, the heart jacket support device demonstrated that it does more than keep the left ventricle from enlarging. It can actually reshape and restore it to a more normal form. This led to a significant decrease in the self-destruction of heart muscle cells – another hallmark of heart failure. There was a rise in cardiac output as well as improved ejection fraction. Even with the success of the device so far, it is expected that patients receiving heart jackets would continue their medications (e.g., beta blockers).

  • Heart valve repair. When a heart becomes enlarged it often prevents the heart’s valves from properly closing, allowing blood to leak back in the wrong direction regurgitation. Certain heart valve surgeries can implant an annuloplasty ring to restore the normal dimensions of the valve, allowing it to come together properly. These surgeries are common as treatments for valvular heart disease and have recently been shown to be successful treating heart failure.