Health technology A comprehensive multidisciplinary care programme for patients hospitalised with congestive heart failure (CHF). The programme was designed according to the guidelines of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) and consisted of intensive patient and family education on diet, compliance and symptom recognition. The programme also included outpatient infusion of in...

Although major advances in our understanding of the pathophysiology of congestive heart failure (CHF) have resulted in treatments that lead to symptomatic improvement and longer life, CHF still remains a major clinical challenge, especially in the areas of diagnosis, prognosis, and risk stratification. For the first time since the introduction of echocardiography some 20 years ago, a simple blo...

Introduction Although there is ample evidence of hyperthyroidism associated with heart failure in adults, few reports exist in the medical literature regarding children who experience thyrotoxic cardiomyopathy. In this report we describe an adolescent patient who presented for urgent care with vague symptoms of palpitations, headaches, lower-extremity swelling, and dyspnea on exertion and was f...

Congestive Heart Failure, or CHF, is a serious medical condition that can result in fluid buildup in the body as a result of a weak heart. When the heart can’t pump enough blood to efficiently deliver nutrients and oxygen to the body, kidney function may be impaired, resulting in fluid retention. CHF patients require a broad drug regimen to maintain the delicate system balance, particularly bet...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to assess the relative proportions of normal versus impaired left ventricular (LV) systolic function among persons with congestive heart failure (CHF) in the community and to compare their long-term mortality during follow-up. BACKGROUND Several hospital-based investigations have reported that a high proportion of subjects with CHF have normal LV systo...

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is increasingly being recognized as a health problem in the United States. It is estimated that the lifetime risk for CHF is 1 in 5. The clinical anesthesiologist can expect to see several cases involving patients suffering from CHF. Because of the danger associated with surgery in a patient with CHF, a thorough knowledge of the disorder and the potential effects ...

AIMS Chronotropic incompetence (CI) in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) develops frequently under beta-blocker and amiodarone therapy. It can be corrected by pacing. We performed a randomized study to test whether pacing is beneficial in CHF patients with CI. METHODS AND RESULTS Congestive heart failure patients under combined beta-blocker and amiodarone therapy (n = 77) were rand...

In patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), the very low frequency power spectral density index (VLFI) derived from analysis of heart rate correlates with the severity of obstructive apnoeas. VLFI is also associated with Cheyne-Stokes respiration/central sleep apnoea (CSR/CSA) in congestive heart failure (CHF). The present authors have tested the hypothesis that per cent VLFI, derived from...

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis of CHF in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with undifferentiated dyspnea would allow clinicians to begin appropriate treatment more promptly. Current guidelines recommend B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels for more accurate diagnosis of CHF in dyspneic patients. Although BNP leve...

BACKGROUND This study was undertaken to identify gene(s) that may be associated with improved clinical outcome in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). The adenosine monophosphate deaminase locus (AMPD1) was selected for study. We hypothesized that inheritance of the mutant AMPD1 allele is associated with increased probability of survival without cardiac transplantation in patients with...