CHF Full Form | What is the Full Form of CHF
CHF Full Form - Congestive Heart Failure
- CHF stands for Congestive heart failure. It's a medical condition in which heart cannot pump enough blood to the body tissues.
- The heart keeps working but not as efficiently as it should be. Let us understand it in simple words.
Congestive Heart Failure
- The human heart has four chambers: two atria (singular: atrium) within the upper half and two ventricles within the lower half.
- The deoxygenated blood enters the right atrium (right upper chamber) through superior vein (vein) then passed to the right ventricle (right lower chamber) and then pumped to the lungs through pulmonary artery.
- In the lungs, carbon dioxide moves out of the blood and oxygen moves into the blood, thus deoxygenated blood turns into oxygenated blood.
- From the lungs, the oxygenated blood enters the left atrium of the heart (left upper chamber) through pulmonary vein then enters the left ventricle (left lower chamber).
- From here, the oxygenated blood is pumped throughout the body via aorta or arteries. If a person is suffering from CHR, the blood isn't efficiently pumped out from the ventricle and the left ventricle doesn't empty properly due to this the pressure in the atria (upper chambers) increases due to the backlog of blood.
- It causes fluids to accumulate (oedema) inside body organs like kidneys, lungs, liver and lower body.
- CHF is named Left-sided CHF when the left side of the heart (left ventricle) is affected.
- When the right side of the heart (right ventricle) is affected, it's called Right-sided CHF.
- CHF is diagnosed through a person's medical history, a physical examination, and specific laboratory tests. Its treatment includes lifestyle modifications, medications, mechanical therapies and heart transplant.
Health Heart - Failure Heart
Common Causes
- There are many factors and disease processes that can impair the pumping efficiency of heart to cause congestive heart failure, such as:
- Coronary heart disease
- Smoking or alcohol abuse
- High blood pressure
- Obesity, asthma
- Disorders of the heart valves
- Heart arrhythmia
- Thyroid disorder
- Congenital heart disease
Common Symptoms
- Shortness of breath
- Tiredness
- Weight gain
- Heart palpitations
- Chest pain
- Nausea, Dizziness
- Swelling in the ankles or legs
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How is CHF diagnosed
- After reporting your symptoms to your doctor, they may refer you to a heart specialist, or cardiologist.
- Your cardiologist will perform a physical exam, which can involve taking note of your heart with a stethoscope to detect abnormal heart rhythms. To verify an initial diagnosis, your cardiologist might order certain diagnostic tests to examine your heart’s valves, blood vessels, and chambers.
- There are a variety of tests used to diagnose heart conditions. Because these tests measure different things, your doctor may recommend a few to get a full picture of your current condition.
Congestive Heart Failure Diagonize
Electrocardiogram
- An electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) records your heart’s rhythm.
- Abnormalities in your heart’s rhythm, like a rapid heartbeat or irregular rhythm, could suggest that the walls of your heart’s chamber are thicker than normal. That could be a wake-up call for a heart attack.
Echocardiogram
- An echocardiogram uses sound waves to record the heart’s structure and motion.
- The test can determine if you already have poor blood flow, muscle damage, or a heart muscle that doesn’t contract normally.
MRI
- An MRI takes pictures of your heart.
- With both still and moving pictures, this allows your doctor to check if there’s damage to your heart.
Stress test
- Stress tests show how well your heart performs under different levels of stress.
- Making your heart work harder makes it easier for your doctor to diagnose problems.
Blood tests
- Blood tests can check for abnormal blood cells and infections.
- They can also check the level of BNP, a hormone that rises with heart failure.
Cardiac catheterization
- Cardiac catheterization can show blockages of the coronary arteries. Your doctor will insert a small tube into your blood vessel and thread it from your upper thigh (groin area), arm, or wrist.
- At the same time, the doctor can take blood samples, use X-rays to look at your coronary arteries, and check blood flow and pressure in your heart chambers.