
Get answers to your Heart Failure questions.
Dr. Gottlieb’s Bio | Q&A Archive

CHF; Congestive heart failure
Heart failure, also called congestive heart failure, is a life-threatening condition in which the heart can no longer pump enough blood to the rest of the body.
Heart failure is almost always a chronic, long-term condition, although it can sometimes develop suddenly. This condition may affect the right side, the left side, or both sides of the heart.
As the heart's pumping action is lost, blood may back up into other areas of the body, including the:
Heart failure results in a lack of oxygen and nutrition to organs, which damages them and reduces their ability to function properly. Most areas of the body can be affected when both sides of the heart fail.
The most common causes of heart failure are:
Other structural or functional causes of heart failure include:
Heart failure becomes more common with advancing age. You are also at increased risk for developing heart failure if you are overweight, have diabetes, smoke cigarettes, abuse alcohol, or use cocaine.
Hunt SA, Abraham WT, Chin MH, Feldman AM, Francis GS, Ganiats TG, et al. ACC/AHA 2005 Guideline Update for the Diagnosis and Management of Chronic Heart Failure in the Adult. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2005;46:1-82.
Mann DL. Management of heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction. In: Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Zipes DP, eds. Libby: Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Saunders; 2007: chap 25.
Hess OM and Carroll JD. Clinical assessment of heart failure. In: Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Zipes DP, eds. Libby: Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Saunders; 2007: chap 23.