[Pathophysiology of heart insufficiency]

Abstract

Chronic heart failure is characterized by the inability of the heart to pump the blood at a rate commensurate with the requirements of the peripheral organs at rest and under exercise conditions. The most common cause of heart failure is coronary artery disease, followed by hypertensive, valvular and myocardial heart disease. Different forms of chronic heart failure have been described (acute and chronic heart failure, forward and backward failure, right and left heart failure, systolic pump and diastolic compliance failure, etc.). The compensatory mechanisms in heart failure are related to hemodynamic and structural as well as metabolic and neurohumoral changes. Prognosis of chronic heart failure is usually poor and the annual mortality rate ranges between 20 and 50% depending on the degree of functional impairment.