What is the pathophysiology of CHF?
What is the pathophysiology of CHF?
Congestive heart failure is a syndrome that can be caused by a variety of abnormalities, including pressure and volume overload, loss of muscle, primary muscle disease or excessive peripheral demands such as high output failure. In the usual form of heart failure, the heart muscle has reduced contractility.
What is the gold standard for diagnosing CHF?
Although echocardiography is considered the gold standard in diagnosing left ventricular dysfunction, it is costly and has limited availability in urgent-care settings. Also, echocardiography may not always reflect an accurate condition.
How does LVF cause RVF?
Patients with RVF due to LVF may benefit from LVAD implantation, with improved PAP before heart transplantation and possibly improved post-transplant survival. However, LVADs may worsen or lead to new RVF due to alterations in RV geometry and flow/pressure dynamics and biventricular support may be required.
How does Lhf cause RHF?
How does it cause right-sided heart failure? The left ventricle does not pump blood efficiently. This leads to pressure buildup behind the left side of the heart that, over time, causes the right side of the heart to fail.
What are the differential diagnosis for CHF?
Differential Diagnosis Acute renal failure. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) Cirrhosis. Pulmonary fibrosis.
How is CHF diagnosed?
How is congestive heart failure diagnosed?
- Resting or exercise electrocardiogram (also known as EKG, ECG, or stress test)
- Echocardiogram.
- Computed tomography (CT) scan.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.
- Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan.
- Biopsy or catheterization of the heart and arteries.
What is RV pathology?
RV failure is most commonly caused by pathology that increases pulmonary vascular resistance, including LV failure, opportunistic pulmonary infections, contaminants from intravenous drug use, microvascular emboli, and pulmonary arteritis from immunologic effects.
How does LV failure lead to RV failure?
The RV ejects the same stroke volume as the LV, but against a much lower resistance of the pulmonary vasculature. This results in an RV stroke work which is almost one-fourth that of the LV, hence the thinner RV wall.
What are the compensatory mechanisms of heart failure?
The compensatory mechanisms that have been described thus far include: activation of the sympathetic (adrenergic) nervous system (SNS) and renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS), which maintain cardiac output through increased retention of salt and water, peripheral arterial vasoconstriction and increased …
