Heart failure

Alternative names:

CHF; congestive heart failure

Definition:

A disorder in which the heart loses its ability to pump blood efficiently, thereby failing to meet the demands of the body.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Heart failure may affect either the right side, left side, or both sides of the heart. As pumping action is lost, blood may back up into other areas of the body, including the liver, gastrointestinal tract, and extremities (right-sided heart failure), or the lungs (left-sided heart failure).

Structural or functional causes of heart failure include high blood pressure (hypertension), heart valve disease, congenital heart diseases, cardiomyopathy, heart tumor, and other heart diseases. Precipitating factors include infections with high fever or complicated infections, use of negative inotropic drugs (such as beta-blockers and calcium channel blocker), anemia, irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias), hyperthyroidism, and kidney disease.

Other risk factors include smoking, obesity, excess alcohol consumption, and diet high in fat and salt.

Heart failure occurs in approximately 10 out of 100 people, and becomes more prevalent with advancing age.