Heartfailure is not just a disease entity but a clinical syndrome often leading to permanent disability and death.
Table of contents:
- What exactly is heart failure?
- Causes of heart failure
- Symptoms of heart failure
- What tests should be performed when heart failure is suspected?
There are several subdivisions of heart failure as well as a number of tests to diagnose this disease phenomenon.
Heart failure is a complex clinical syndrome that is responsible for a high mortality rate in the population. It may be the result of acute conditions such as myocardial infarction or other heart pathologies, as well as non-cardiac factors such as increased metabolic demands on tissues. Prevention and prevention of the development of the disease process is therefore of great importance.
What exactly is heart failure?
It is a pathological condition where the heart fails to provide adequate blood flow to the tissues and thus fails to meet their metabolic needs.[1]
There are divisions of heart failure:
- The first division speaks of low-volume heart failure (where the heart's minute capacity is reduced along with a reduction in ejection capacity) and high-volume heart failure (where tissue oxygen demand is less than the heart's minute ejection capacity).
- The second division, divides heart failure into left ventricular and right ventricular heart failure.
- Thethird division, into acute heart failure (caused by a sudden increase in pressure in the right or left atrium of the heart) and chronic heart failure (which builds up slowly and results in fluid retention in the body, due to sodium retention by the kidneys).[2]
Causes of heart failure
The causes of heart failure can be traced back to factors such as:
- damage or mechanical injury causing increased pressure in the heart chamber,
- a decrease in muscle mass (myocytes),
- cardiac arrhythmias (acceleration or deceleration).[3]
Symptoms of heart failure
Symptoms reported by patients are often too vague to distinguish between heart failure and other conditions, especially in the early stages of the disease. Many symptoms are the result of water and sodium retention in the body, such as swelling or oedema, which can have many different causes.
Heart failure, photo: shutterstock
What tests should be carried out when heart failure is suspected?
The most useful tests are:
- echocardiogram (indicating the size of the heart cavities, systolic and diastolic function, valve function),
- electrocardiogram (ECG- indicating heart rhythm). These are among the basic tests for diagnosing heart failure.
Biochemical tests (sodium, potassium, creatinine, among others), haematological tests (haemoglobin, haematocrit, platelets, among others) and thyroid hormone (TSH) levels are also important.[4]
Cardiovascular diseases take their toll every year. Therefore, it is worthwhile to stay under the doctor's control and implement lifestyle orders that enable you to move beyond the risk group.
