VPT 311: General and Systemic Veterinary Pharmacology (2+1)

CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE

• Heart failure is a global term for the physiological state in which cardiac output is insufficient in meeting the needs of the body and lungs. Often termed "congestive heart failure" or CHF, this is most commonly caused when cardiac output is low and the body becomes congested with fluid.

Common causes of heart failure include

• myocardial infarction
• ischemic heart disease,
• hypertension,
• valvular heart disease
• cardiomyopathy.

It may also occur due to

• severe anemia,
• Gram negative septicaemia,
• beriberi (vitamin B₁/thiamine deficiency),
• thyrotoxicosis,
• arteriovenous fistulae,
• arteriovenous malformations.