PMID- 27528985
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
DCOM- 20160818
LR  - 20240321
IS  - 1995-7262 (Print)
IS  - 1995-7270 (Electronic)
IS  - 1995-7262 (Linking)
VI  - 16
IP  - 1
DP  - 2004 Mar
TI  - Pharmacological management of chronic heart failure in adults: a review of the 
      literature.
PG  - 22-6
AB  - Heart failure is a common, life threatening condition encountered in patients of 
      all ages and in all clinical settings. It may be due to any of a wide variety of 
      causes - in Malawi, cardiomyopathies, hypertension and rheumatic heart disease 
      are probably the commonest causes of heart failure. In more affluent societies, 
      ischaemic heart disease is an important factor. Chronic heart failure (CHF) 
      causes significant morbidity: it reduces exercise capacity, interferes with sleep 
      and produces unsightly and uncomfortable oedema. The syndrome also carries 
      substantial mortatity, worse than that of many malignant tumours: 20 -30% of 
      patients with mild or moderately severe heart failure will die every year if left 
      untreated. The life expectancy of a patient with untreated severe heart failure 
      is only about 6 months. Table 1 explains the symptomatic classification of the 
      severity of heart failure. Objective measurements of cardiac function, such as 
      Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction (LYEF) or chamber filling pressures, correlate 
      poorly with symptoms and New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification. Many 
      of the problems experienced by a patient with heart failure are due to a 'vicious 
      circle' of events in which pathophysiological responses to the falling cardiac 
      output cause further deterioration in cardiac function over time. These responses 
      include ventricular remodeling, neurohumoural activation (increased sympathetic 
      activity; increased atrial natriuretic peptide; increased angiotensin II), 
      increased activity of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) causing 
      fluid retention, vasoconstriction and sodium retention. [Table: see text].
FAU - Auty, Richard
AU  - Auty R
AD  - Department of Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital and College of Medicine, 
      Blantyre, Malawi.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Review
PL  - Malawi
TA  - Malawi Med J
JT  - Malawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi
JID - 9500170
PMC - PMC3345495
EDAT- 2004/03/01 00:00
MHDA- 2004/03/01 00:01
PMCR- 2004/03/01
CRDT- 2016/08/17 06:00
PHST- 2016/08/17 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2004/03/01 00:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2004/03/01 00:01 [medline]
PHST- 2004/03/01 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - jMMJ.v16.i1.pg22 [pii]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Malawi Med J. 2004 Mar;16(1):22-6.