The phrase "heart failure" refers to a complex
set of symptoms and physical findings (or syndrome) caused by a failure of the
heart to meet the needs of the body.
Heart failure can occur at any age and has many causes; in adults it is most
commonly caused by narrowings in the arteries that supply the heart muscle (coronary
artery disease, or ischaemic heart disease), untreated high blood pressure or
damaged heart valves.
Up to a third of individuals with heart failure have normal coronary arteries
and no history of high blood pressure; this condition is called dilated cardiomyopathy
(DCM). When the heart is not pumping blood adequately to organs such as the
kidneys and brain they receive less oxygen. In addition, because the heart is
not pumping adequately, fluid tends to build up in the lungs or other parts
of the body such as the legs.
It affects patients who also
have a condition in which the two lower chambers of the heart (known as the
left and right ventricles) are not beating at the same time as they do normally.
In medical terms, this condition is called ventricular dysynchrony. In the normal
heart, both sides beat together and are effectively "synchronised."
Ventricular dysynchrony may worsen heart failure symptoms.
Last updated: 20 January 2005
