ABSTRACT
Heart failure occurs when the heart fails to deliver adequate amounts of oxygenated blood to the tissues during exercise or, in severe cases, at rest. Such failure of the pump function may be chronic, in which case symptoms of fatigue, ankle swelling, effort dyspnoea and orthopnoea predominate, or it may be acute, with sudden onset of shortness of breath due to pulmonary oedema (Figure 31.1). Both acute and chronic heart failure severely reduce life expectancy (Figure 31.2). The most severe form of heart failure (low cardiac output circulatory failure, ‘cardiogenic shock’) is managed with pressor drugs (e.g. adrenaline) or with mechanical support (e.g. intra-aortic balloon pump), in an intensive care unit. Such treatment is highly individualized (and specialized) and mortality even with the best treatment is very high. In this chapter, we cover the more common syndrome of chronic congestive heart failure and discuss the treatment of acute pulmonary oedema, since this is a common emergency.
