Heart failure, sometimes also known as Congestive Heart Failure, is a long-term condition that occurs when the heart is unable to pump blood as well as it should. It does not mean that the heart has stopped functioning altogether; instead, it is working less efficiently than normal. Due to many reasons, blood moves through the body at a slower rate, increasing pressure on the heart. When this happens, blood flows back, and fluid can build up in the lungs, causing shortness of breath. The inability of the heart to pump blood effectively results in a malfunction of other organs as well. Try Second Opinion provides the second medical opinion for all types of heart disease.
Congestive heart failure may affect the right or left side of the heart or both at the same time. It can be an acute (short-term) or chronic (ongoing) condition. With acute heart failure, symptoms may go away relatively faster, but symptoms are continuous and do not improve over time with chronic heart failure. Heart failure cases are mostly chronic. Heart failure is a serious medical condition that requires treatment. Early treatment improves the chances of recovery and leads to fewer complications.
Left-sided heart failure
HF with reduced left ventricular function (HF-rEF): The lower left chamber of the heart, called the left ventricle, gets bigger and cannot contract hard enough to pump the right amount of oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body.
Heart failure with preserved left ventricular function (HF-pEF): The heart contracts and pumps normally, but the bottom chambers of the heart or ventricles become thicker and stiffer than usual. Because of this, they cannot relax properly and fill up all the way. Therefore, the heart ends up pumping out less blood to the rest of the body when it contracts.
Right-sided HF
The right side of the heart can also be affected by heart failure. Common causes include lung disease and certain diseases in other organs. Left-sided heart failure is also a cause.
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