Heart

Heart Failure

Heart Failure, also known as congestive heart failure, affects more than 5 million Americans and occurs when the heart can't pump enough blood to meet the body’s demands. Heart failure is a serious condition that requires expert care and is often a long-term (chronic) condition but may also develop suddenly. The most common risk factors for heart failure include:

• Diabetes
• Hypertension
• Coronary artery disease
• Valvular disease

Other less common causes of systolic heart failure include cardiac non-compaction, some forms of cancer treatment, fatty infiltration of the heart (ARVD), systemic illnesses that may affect the heart including connective tissue and inflammatory diseases such as sarcoid, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and the scleroderma spectrum of disease.

Heart failure in younger patients is often caused by myocarditis which is an inflammatory response commonly caused by a viral illness. In elderly patients, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is becoming recognized as the most common form of heart failure.

Heart Failure Symptoms

If a patient has heart failure, the heart is not strong enough to pump blood effectively to the rest of the body. As the heart struggles to work harder, it is not able to maintain healthy blood pressure and volume levels, which often causes parts of the heart to become enlarged or for the heart to retain fluid.

Patients with heart failure may experience the following symptoms:

• Shortness of breath
• Swelling
• Difficulty exercising
• General fatigue
• Arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat)
• Difficulty performing normal activities, such as dressing or bathing, without assistance
• Sleep-disordered breathing patterns

Types of Heart Failure We Treat

Heart failure is complex and can lead to many different types of heart problems. Other cardiac disorders may have similar symptoms as heart failure, including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Therefore, it is important for patients to visit an experienced cardiologist who specializes in heart failure.

At NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, we treat:

• Left-sided heart failure [including heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HRrEF), often called systolic failure and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), often called diastolic failure or diastolic dysfunction]
• Right-sided heart failure
• Congestive heart failure

Heart Failure Treatment