Cardiac heart failure is an alternative term for heart failure, sometimes used in clinical documentation and older medical literature. The word ‘cardiac’ is occasionally added to distinguish the condition from other forms of organ failure (such as renal or hepatic failure), though in current clinical use ‘heart failure’ is the standard term. The condition is also sometimes called congestive heart failure (CHF), reflecting the accumulation of fluid that builds up in the lungs and body when the heart cannot pump adequately.
In heart failure, the heart muscle is unable to pump blood with sufficient force or fill properly, resulting in reduced delivery of oxygenated blood to the body’s tissues and accumulation of fluid in the lungs (causing breathlessness) and in the legs and abdomen (causing oedema). The condition has two main subtypes: heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), where the heart muscle contracts weakly, and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), where the muscle is stiff and does not fill properly.
Heart failure is both a cause of and a consequence of cardiac arrest. Pre-existing heart failure significantly increases the risk of sudden cardiac arrest due to arrhythmia. After cardiac arrest, the heart may be temporarily weakened by myocardial stunning, even if not previously failing, requiring intensive haemodynamic support until function recovers.
For a full description of heart failure, its causes, symptoms, investigations, and treatment, see Heart Failure.
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