Heart Failure
The term "heart failure" can be frightening. It does not mean the heart has "failed" or stopped working. It means the heart does not pump as well as it should.
Heart failure is a major health problem in the United States, affecting about 4.6 million Americans. About 550,000 new cases of heart failure occur each year. It is the leading cause of hospitalization in people older than 65.
If you have heart failure, you will enjoy better health and quality of life if you take care of yourself and keep yourself in balance. It is important to learn about heart failure, how to keep in good balance, and when to call the doctor.
When talking to your doctor about heart failure, you may hear these terms used:
- Ejection fraction (EF): a measurement of the amount of blood pumped out of the left ventricle with each heartbeat. In a normal person, the ejection fraction equals about 50 percent or more. If someone has systolic heart failure, the ejection fraction will equal about 20 to 40 percent, or even less.
- Ventricular remodeling: the changes that occur to the heart’s pumping chamber (ventricle) when someone has heart failure. The inside of the left ventricle gets bigger during heart failure, the walls become thicker and the heart changes shape (becoming more round rather than pear-shaped). These changes worsen the heart’s ability to pump blood, stress the heart and may cause the mitral valve to leak.
- Systolic heart failure (systolic dysfunction): occurs when the heart muscle does not contract with enough force, so there is not enough oxygen-rich blood pumped throughout the body. An ejection fraction less than 40 percent indicates systolic heart failure.
- Diastolic heart failure (diastolic dysfunction): occurs when the heart contracts normally (a normal ejection fraction) but the ventricle does not relax or fill properly, so less blood enters the heart.
Learn more about heart failure by clicking on the links provided above.
The George M. and Linda H. Kaufman Center for Heart Failure: The mission of the Kaufman Center is to bring together a team of experts from medicine, surgery, and basic science research to focus their attention on the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure. Learn more
