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Congestive heart failure (CHF) occurs when the heart muscle is not able to pump enough
blood to satisfy the metabolic needs of the tissues. Heart failure may be due to a primary
disease of the heart muscle, which is called cardiomyopathy, or may be secondary to
diseases which affect the heart muscle such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, or
various diseases of the heart valves.
Heart failure is divided into various types. Left-sided heart failure is failure of the
left ventricle (larger chamber that pumps blood to the body). This may result in fluid
accumulating in the lungs and the patient complaining of shortness of breath. Right-sided
failure is failure of the right ventricle (chamber that pumps to the lungs) and may result
in fluid accumulating in the abdomen and in the ankles.
Heart failure is further subdivided into systolic dysfunction, which is an abnormality of
contraction of the pumping chambers of the heart and diastolic dysfunction where the
pumping chamber may be contracting normally but does not relax properly, i.e., they are
stiff. It is important to try to understand the difference types of heart failure since
the treatment may vary depending on the type.
Treatment usually consists of lifestyle alterations and a combination of medications,
although surgery may be recommended in some cases.
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The Medifocus Guide on Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) provides answers to the following
important questions and medical issues:
What Your Doctor Reads:
This MediFocus Guide contains an extensive listing of citations and abstracts of
recent journal articles that have been published about this condition in trustworthy
medical journals. This is the same type of information that is available to physicians and
other health care professionals. A partial selection of journal articles that are
abstracted in this MediFocus Guide includes:
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