Congestive Cardiac Failure

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the etiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, physical examination techniques, and classifications of congestive heart failure.

Heart

A muscular organ that pumps blood throughout the body to deliver oxygen and nutrients to tissues and remove waste products from cells.

Cardiac Failure

A condition in which the heart cannot pump blood effectively enough to meet the body's needs, or cannot fill with blood properly, while continuing to beat inefficiently.

Cardiac Output

The total volume of blood pumped by the heart per minute, calculated as $\text{Cardiac output} = \text{Heart rate} \times \text{Stroke volume}$.

Stroke Volume

The amount of blood pumped by the left ventricle with each heartbeat.

Heart Rate

The number of heartbeats per minute.

Ejection Fraction (EF)

The percentage of blood in the left ventricle that is pumped out with each contraction, normally ranging between $50\%$ and $70\%$.

Arrhythmia

An abnormal heart rhythm where the heart beats too quickly, too slowly, or irregularly, impairing effective pumping.

Myocardial Infarction

A heart attack resulting from severely reduced or blocked blood supply to part of the heart muscle, leading to muscle damage.

Hypertension

Chronically elevated blood pressure that forces the heart to work harder, causing the myocardium to thicken, stiffen, or weaken over time.

Anemia

A reduced level of hemoglobin or diminished oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, forcing the heart to work harder to maintain tissue oxygenation.

Atherosclerosis

The buildup of fatty material and other substances inside the walls of arteries, causing luminal narrowing and decreased blood flow.

Myocarditis

Inflammation of the heart muscle, frequently caused by infections, that can compromise cardiac pumping performance.

Symptom

A manifestation of disease that is subjectively experienced and reported by the patient, such as breathlessness.

Sign

An objective finding that an examiner can directly observe or measure, such as peripheral edema or an elevated JVP.

Nocturia

The symptom of waking up to pass urine more frequently during the night, seen in heart failure.

Pulse Pressure

The numerical difference between systolic and diastolic arterial pressures, calculated as $\text{Pulse pressure} = \text{Systolic blood pressure} - \text{Diastolic blood pressure}$.

Hepatomegaly

Enlargement of the liver caused by venous congestion, most frequently occurring in right-sided heart failure due to backward pressure through systemic veins.

Jugular Venous Distension (JVD)

Visible enlargement or bulging of the jugular veins in the neck resulting from elevated venous pressure on the right side of the heart.

Jugular Venous Pressure (JVP)

An estimate of right atrial pressure assessed by measuring the vertical distance from the sternal angle to the highest internal jugular venous pulsation (normally $3\text{--}4\,\text{cm}$ or less at $30^\circ\text{--}45^\circ$ recumbency).

Systolic Heart Failure

Heart failure characterized by an inability of the ventricles to contract strongly enough during systole (the squeezing phase) to pump blood effectively.

Diastolic Heart Failure

Heart failure characterized by stiffened ventricles that fail to relax and fill properly with blood during diastole (the filling phase).

Acute Heart Failure

Heart failure that develops suddenly over hours or days, producing rapid and severe symptoms (such as acute pulmonary edema) with minimal time for compensatory adaptation.

Chronic Heart Failure

Heart failure that develops gradually over months or years, during which progressive compensatory bodily changes may develop.

Left-Sided Heart Failure

Failure of the left ventricle to pump blood forward effectively, causing blood and fluid to back up into the lungs and manifesting primarily as breathlessness.

Right-Sided Heart Failure

Failure of the right ventricle to pump blood forward into the lungs effectively, causing venous congestion in the body that manifests as leg edema, ascites, and hepatomegaly.

Volume Overload

A condition in which the heart must accommodate and pump an excessive volume of blood, seen in valvular regurgitation or congenital shunts.

Pressure Overload

A condition in which a cardiac ventricle must generate abnormally high intracavitary pressure to eject blood against elevated downstream resistance.

Aortic Regurgitation

Incompetence of the aortic valve that permits blood to leak backward from the aorta into the left ventricle during diastole, causing left ventricular volume overload.

Mitral Regurgitation

Incompetence of the mitral valve that allows backward flow of blood from the left ventricle into the left atrium during systole, elevating left atrial and pulmonary pressures.

Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA)

Persistence after birth of the fetal vessel connecting the pulmonary artery and the aorta, leading to abnormal shunting of blood to the lungs and increased cardiac workload.

Ischemic Heart Disease

Insufficient myocardial blood supply and oxygenation caused by narrowing or occlusion of the coronary arteries.

Dilated Cardiomyopathy

A primary disease of the heart muscle in which the cardiac chambers become enlarged and the myocardium weakens, resulting in impaired systolic function; frequently idiopathic.

Peripartum Cardiomyopathy

A form of dilated cardiomyopathy that develops toward the end of pregnancy or in the months following delivery, marked by reduced cardiac systolic function.

Hemochromatosis

A systemic metabolic disorder in which excessive iron accumulates in tissues throughout the body, causing myocardial damage when deposited in the heart.

Sarcoidosis

A systemic inflammatory disease characterized by non-caseating granulomas that can infiltrate myocardial tissue and disrupt the cardiac conduction system.

Scleroderma

An autoimmune connective tissue disease affecting the skin, vasculature, and internal organs that can directly involve and damage the heart.

Atrial Septal Defect (ASD)

A congenital opening in the interatrial septum that allows abnormal shunting of blood between the atria, causing right ventricular volume overload.

Tricuspid Regurgitation

Valvular incompetence that allows blood to leak backward from the right ventricle into the right atrium during systole, increasing systemic venous pressure.

Pulmonary Hypertension

Abnormally high blood pressure within the pulmonary arterial bed, creating a chronic pressure overload on the right ventricle.

Pulmonary Stenosis

Narrowing of the pulmonary valve or right ventricular outflow tract that obstructs flow into the pulmonary artery, producing right ventricular pressure overload.

Congestive Cardiac Failure (Biventricular Failure)

Heart failure involving both ventricles simultaneously, presenting with combined pulmonary congestion (breathlessness, orthopnea) and systemic venous congestion (peripheral edema, hepatomegaly, elevated JVP).