Congestive Heart Failure

Chronic heart failure occurs when either the left ventricle, the right ventricle, or both require elevated filling pressures to maintain cardiac output. Heart failure is a syndrome, not a specific disease, and occurs as a final common pathway in multiple disease states.

Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) is similar to b-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) in the hemodynamic effects. ANP is not measured clinically unlike BNP.

Diastolic dysfunction occurs when the left ventricular myocardium is non-compliant and not able to accept blood return in a normal fashion from the left atrium.

The Bernheim effect describes right heart failure developing prior to left heart failure in patients with aortic stenosis due to the hypertrophied ventricular septum bulging into the right ventricle impairing right ventricular diastolic function.

A cardiac contusion occurs when physical trauma causes damage to cardiac myocytes.

Cardiac cachexia is the weight loss and decrease in appetite that occurs during states of chronically low cardiac output and congestive heart failure.

Barth’s syndrome in an inherited disorder in an X-linked fashion. The cardiac component includes dilated cardiomyopathy which can at times cause severe systolic congestive heart failure.

Chronic heart failure is a syndrome, not a specific disease, and occurs as a final common pathway in multiple disease states.

The ECG in patients with aortic regurgitation is non-specific and may show LVH and left atrial enlargement.

The peripheral signs of aortic regurgitation are mostly due to the high-flow state, large stroke volume and wide pulse pressure seen in aortic regurgitation.