Congestive heart failure (CHF) (also called congestive cardiac failure and heart failure) is the inability of the heart to pump a sufficient amount of blood throughout the body, or requiring elevated filling pressures in order to pump effectively.
The term heart failure is frequently misused, especially when given as cause of death: it is not synonymous with "cessation of heartbeat".
There are many different ways to categorize heart failure, including the side of the heart involved (left heart failure vs. right heart failure) or whether the abnormality is due to contraction or relaxation of the heart (systolic heart failure vs. diastolic heart failure).
Individuals with heart failure are sensitive to small shifts in their intravascular volume status (the amount of fluid in their circulatory system). Increasing the volume in their circulatory system can cause symptoms and signs of decompensated heart failure, while decreasing the volume in the circulatory system can cause hypotension.
Signs of decompensated heart failure include pulmonary edema (fluid building up in the lungs), peripheral edema (fluid building up in dependent portions of the body).
Symptoms of decompensated heart failure include dyspnea on exertion (shortness of breath), fatigue, paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea (shortness of breath when lying down).
The NYHA functional class is a commonly used way to gauge the progression of CHF in a particular patient. This classification is used to determine how much CHF limits their lifestyle, and does not apply to a particular decompensated episode.
Common Cardiovascular Disorders
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