Advancing Field of Neurocardiology: Physiologic Mechanisms and Devices

The primary goals of this chapter are to: (1) introduce the anatomy and physiology of the autonomic nervous system as it relates to controlling the heart, (2) describe the autonomic imbalances as they relate to the patient with heart failure, and (3) introduce the concepts of device-based neurocardiac interventions, that aim to restore such imbalances. Various interventions are described within, ranging from ablation to stimulation: due to this field’s rapidly evolving nature, these technologies are in various stages of market and product development.