What is heart failure?

Heart failure (also called HF, congestive heart failure or CHF) is a clinical syndrome in which the main pumping chamber of the heart — the left ventricle — can no longer adequately meet the body’s need for oxygenated blood. Because it can’t pump enough blood, the heart typically becomes enlarged as the body tries to compensate for the decrease in blood flow. The bigger the heart becomes, the more inefficient it becomes. As part of this process, fluid backs up or accumulates in other areas of your body, which puts even more strain on the heart.

Heart failure can be caused by a number of things, including but not limited to:

• Coronary artery disease (CAD)
• Scar tissue on the heart, usually caused by a history of heart attacks
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Heart valve disease; especially aortic or mitral valve disease
• Cardiomyopathy (a primary disease of the heart muscle)
• Symptoms of heart failure may include:
• Extreme tiredness or fatigue
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Swelling (edema), especially in the legs
• Chest pain
• Weight gain caused by fluid or “water” retention
• Cough

It’s estimated that about 5 million Americans have heart failure and that somewhere between 400,000 and 700,000 new cases are diagnosed each year1. What’s more, heart failure is the cause or contributing factor to more than 300,000 deaths a year.

Current treatments for heart failure typically include lifestyle changes (such as weight loss, exercise and changes in diet) and medications like beta blockers, ACE inhibitors and/or diuretics.

New devices such as the investigational HeartNet™ system may hold promise for controlling or stopping heart enlargement and reducing the symptoms of heart failure.

1 Heart Failure Society of America website, February 5, 2004: www.hfsa.org