HEART FAILURE-PATHOLOGY

SUMMARY

1. Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction results in decreased cardiac output.
2. The decreased cardiac output can be due to systolic dysfunction, diastolic dysfunction, or both.
3. This leads to decreased renal perfusion, stimulates the renin-aldosterone system, leading to sodium & water retention.
4. This leads to increased filling pressure and moves the Starling curve to the right.
5. The increased HR is to compensate for decreased CO.
6. ANP and BNP are released due to stretching of the atrium. These increase excretion of Na & water to offset the effect of the renin-aldosterone system.

Reference(s)

Wilkinson, I., Furmedge, D. and Sinharay, R. (2017). Oxford handbook of clinical medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Get it on Amazon.
Feather, A., Randall, D. and Waterhouse, M. (2020). Kumar And Clark’s Clinical Medicine. 10th ed. S.L.: Elsevier Health Sciences. Get it on Amazon.
Hannaman, R. A., Bullock, L., Hatchell, C. A., & Yoffe, M. (2016). Internal medicine review core curriculum, 2017-2018. CO Springs, CO: MedStudy.
Therapeutic Guidelines. Melbourne: Therapeutic Guidelines Limited. https://www.tg.org.au [Accessed 2021].