the heart
The heart is a muscular organ in the human body. It is about the size of a fist. It is located behind the breastbone. It is located on the left side of the body. The function is to pump blood through a network of arteries and veins in the body. It is a circulatory system, The heart consists of four chambers; the right atrium and the left atrium, which form the upper chambers of the heart and receive the blood coming to them, the right ventricle and the left ventricle (Ventricle), which form the lower chambers and the blood is stored outside the heart, Valves allow bit The blood flows in a certain direction and prevents its flow in the other direction.
Heart failure
Heart failure is a chronic heart disease, which is the inability of the heart to pump blood efficiently to the body. Thus, the body does not receive the necessary blood and oxygen for its needs, and as a reaction the body gets stretched to the heart muscle and contract more strongly. Time is swollen, and myocardial mass is increased to increase pump strength and speed to increase cardiac efficiency.
Heart failure
Failure or failure of the left side of the heart
The oxygenated blood is transferred from the lungs to the left atrium, then to the left ventricle, which pumps blood to the rest of the body. The left ventricle is the largest of the heart chambers and has the largest pumping force. In the left side of the heart, From the heart, a greater force is made to pump the same amount of blood. The failure of the left part of the heart are two types:
- Systolic failure: (Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction), in which the left ventricle loses its ability to contract efficiently and thus the amount of blood pumped to the rest of the body is affected.
- Diastolic Failure: Called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, in which the left ventricle loses its ability to relax and expand normally due to a hardening of the heart muscle, reducing the amount of blood that fills the heart between the pulse and the other.
Failure or failure of the right side of the heart
The oxygen-free blood is transferred through the veins of the body to the right atrium to transport it to the right ventricle, which pumps the blood to the lungs until it is supplied with oxygen again. The right side of the heart is damaged as a result of left side failure. The failure of the left side of the heart causes the accumulation of fluid pressure On the lungs for not being able to pump it, causing a deficiency in the right side of the heart.
Causes of heart failure
Many medical conditions weaken and shorten the heart and increase its hardness, which affects the efficiency of its fullness and pumping blood, and cases that may increase the possibility of heart failure:
- Coronary artery disease, the most common cause of heart failure.
- Cardiomyopathy.
- Congenital heart defect (Congenital Heart Defect).
- Heart attacks.
- Heart valve disease.
- Diabetes Mellitus.
- Specific types of arrhythmias.
- Hypertension.
- Emphysema.
- Hyperthyroidism.
- Hypothyroidism.
- AIDS or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
- Substance abuse or excessive drinking.
- Chemotherapy.
- Severe Anemia.
Symptoms of heart failure
Signs and symptoms of heart failure include:
- General weakness.
- Shortness of breath when doing effort or lying down.
- Edema: Any accumulation of fluid leading to swelling in the lower extremities.
- Ascites.
- Irregular heartbeat or speed.
- Loss of appetite.
- Nausea.
- Increased need to urinate at night.
- Low ability to exercise.
- Continuous cough.
- Sudden increase in weight due to fluid retention.
- Difficulty concentrating.
- pain in chest.
- The emergence of the veins of the neck.
Complications of heart failure
The likelihood of complications from heart failure depends on the patient’s general health status and the severity of the heart failure, and on the cause of the occurrence. The complications include the following:
- Kidney failure, due to the low amount of blood flowing to the kidneys of the heart, the patient may need dialysis in advanced cases of renal failure.
- Problems in heart valves, may occur by enlargement of the heart, or because of high pressure inside the heart as a result of his shortness.
- Arrhythmia.
- Damage to the liver, due to the accumulation of fluids that lead to increased pressure on the liver, causing scarring affect the ability of the liver to carry out its vital functions.
Diagnosis of heart failure
The doctor asks about the symptoms of the patient, in addition to taking his medical history and the history of his family medical, and verify the patient’s injury to any of the risk factors that lead to heart failure: high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary artery disease, The doctor will perform a clinical examination to find any signs of heart failure such as edema in the lower limbs or ascites of the abdomen. The patient’s heartbeat must be carefully listened to. The doctor may then ask for some of the following tests and images:
- ECG Electrocardiogram (ECG).
- Blood tests for thyroid, kidney, liver, and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) functions.
- Echocardiogram and Ejection fraction, which help to distinguish systolic heart failure from diastolic heart failure.
- Stress Test.
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), or Cardiac Computerized Tomography (CT), to find any heart problems.
- Coronary angiogram.
- Biochemistry (Myocardial biopsy), to detect the presence of certain diseases in the heart muscle.