What is heart failure
Inadequate cardiac output. Cannot meet the metabolic demands of the body.
Major causes of heart failure
***MI
HTN
Vascular disease/valve damage
Cardiomyopathy- muscle heart disease
HF risk factors
Coronary heart disease HTN Cigarette obesity Diabetes
Heart failure causes
Congestion of blood flow, inability to increase cardiac output as needed.
What happens if left side of heart fails first?
Rt side keeps pumping fluid into lungs, but the left side of the heart can’t get rid of it. Causes back up in the pulmonary system
Pulmonary edema Causes tachypnea (rapid breathing) and cyanosis (body is hypoxic and turns blue)
What happens if the right side of heart fails first?
Blood backs up in systemic circulation.
Systemic circulation flows into right side. If right side can’t move blood, it stops there.
Causes peripheral edema. Hepatomegaly (enlargement of liver) and ascites (fluid problems. Excess venous pressure causes blood to leak into abdomen)
Common symptoms of heart failure
Fatigue, shortness of breath
Right side failure is most commonly caused by
Left side failure
3 compensatory mechanisms for HF
Cardiac arrhythmia
Irregularity in the hearts beating pattern due to pacemaker/SA node. Electrical conductivity problem in the heart.
Inefficient heart contractions, decreases CO, can be fatal.
Most common side effect of MI, but can also occur on its own and lead to heart failure.
What causes cardiac arrhythmia
Myocardial ischemia or MI ** Electrolyte imbalance (K+) Stress due to cortisol release Drugs (stimulants) Congenital defects in the myocardial electrical network
4 types of cardiac arrhythmia
Atria vs ventricle fibrillation
Atria: too many p waves. Tx with meds, surgeries. No tx may lead to stroke.
Ventricle: Can quickly be fatal. Cause incomplete contraction and inefficient pumping.
Ischemic and non-ischemic forms of cardiomyopathy
Ischemic: Thrombus causes coronary heart disease.
Non-Ischemic:
3 types of cardiomyopathy
Dilated cardiomyopathy
Heart is enlarged due to heart trying to maintain CO.
More common out of the three types
Predominantly caused by ischemic damage to the heart due to MI. Results in myocardial degeneration bc ischemia.
What is cardiomyopathy
Myocardial degeneration that leads to heart failure.
Restrictive cardiomyopathy
Normal sized heart that becomes more rigid. Results in reduced filling capacity because heart cannot initially expand to let more blood enter.
Amyloidosis- autoimmune disease that causes amyloid accumulation in heart muscles.
or idiopathic.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
-What is it?
Larger than normal heart due to muscles getting larger.
Primarily an autosomal dominant genetic defect.
-AA men most affected
Most common cause of sudden cardiac death in young adults
Most common cause of sudden cardiac death in young adults
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Difference between Hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathy
Dilated:
Hypertrophic:
Two types of endocardial/valvular disease and what causes this
Cause: Inflammation, scarring, calcification/ageing, congenital malformations.
Mitral valve regurgitation
Valve that is between left atrium and left ventricle. Instead of going from left ventricle to circulation, blood flows back into left atria.
Aortic valve stenosis
Aortic valve that doesn’t open or close completely. This increases the workload of the left ventricle. may lead to left ventricular hypertrophy and eventually HF.