Heart Failure: Advanced Refractory Heart Failure

End-stage heart failure (HF) is associated with an extremely poor prognosis. Progressive and/or persistent HF signs and symptoms in the setting of optimal therapy is the hallmark of more advanced disease. Physicians must be able to recognize patients with features of refractory HF to aid in timely evaluation for advanced therapy options. Left ventricular assist device implantation and heart transplantation prolong survival in patients with end-stage HF, but are options only for select patients. Timely referral for evaluation is necessary to prevent secondary irreversible end-organ dysfunction and to ascertain whether there are factors that can be addressed and corrected. All patients with end-stage HF should be offered referral for palliative care to aid in symptom management and improve quality of life. In addition, for patients who are not candidates for advanced therapy options, hospice should be discussed. In some cases, palliative home inotrope infusion can be considered for symptom management.