Editing Heart (section)

==== Heart failure ====
{{Main|Heart failure}}As well as addressing the underlying cause for a patient's heart failure (most commonly [[Coronary artery disease|ischemic heart disease]] or [[hypertension]]), the mainstay of heart failure treatment is with medication. These include drugs to prevent fluid from accumulating in the lungs by increasing the amount of urine a patient produces ([[diuretic]]s), and drugs that attempt to preserve the pumping function of the heart ([[beta blocker]]s, [[ACE inhibitor]]s and [[Antimineralocorticoid|mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists]]).<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Ponikowski|first1=Piotr|last2=Voors|first2=Adriaan A.|last3=Anker|first3=Stefan D.|last4=Bueno|first4=Héctor|last5=Cleland|first5=John G.F.|last6=Coats|first6=Andrew J.S.|last7=Falk|first7=Volkmar|last8=González-Juanatey|first8=José Ramón|last9=Harjola|first9=Veli-Pekka|date=August 2016|title=2016 ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure: The Task Force for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Developed with the special contribution of the Heart Failure Association (HFA) of the ESC|journal=European Journal of Heart Failure|volume=18|issue=8|pages=891–975|doi=10.1002/ejhf.592|issn=1879-0844|pmid=27207191|hdl=2434/427148|s2cid=221675744|url=https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/205777/1/2016%20ESC%20Guidelines%20for%20the%20diagnosis%20and%20treatment%20of%20acute%20and%20chronic%20heart%20failure.pdf|access-date=24 September 2019|archive-date=14 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614214934/https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/205777/1/2016%20ESC%20Guidelines%20for%20the%20diagnosis%20and%20treatment%20of%20acute%20and%20chronic%20heart%20failure.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

In some patients with heart failure, a specialised pacemaker known as [[Cardiac resynchronization therapy|cardiac resynchronisation therapy]] can be used to improve the heart's pumping efficiency.<ref name=":1" /> These devices are frequently combined with a defibrillator. In very severe cases of heart failure, a small pump called a [[ventricular assist device]] may be implanted which supplements the heart's own pumping ability. In the most severe cases, a [[Heart transplantation|cardiac transplant]] may be considered.<ref name=":2" />