Heart Failure

More than ten per cent of all people over the age of sixty will develop heart failure during their lifetime. Those affected often struggle with the consequences for a long time. Left untreated, the condition can lead to a number of serious complications such as cardiac arrhythmias, kidney damage, or stroke. With comprehensive treatment, however, you can avoid this unfavourable prognosis — our experienced doctors will accompany you throughout this process at all our locations.

Heart failure is diagnosed by an enlargement of the heart muscle visible on ultrasound. The affected organ attempts in this way to compensate for its reduced pumping capacity. Depending on which chamber of the heart is affected, the diagnosis is described as left-sided, right-sided, or global insufficiency. Heart failure is further classified into different stages based on the frequency of symptoms (i.e. whether these occur at rest or only on exertion).

The development of heart failure can be triggered by a wide variety of other conditions. These include:

• poor contractility of the heart (for example due to myocarditis or a heart attack)
• heart valve defects (valves that are too rigid or leaking)
• cardiac arrhythmias

You can recognise heart failure by the following typical symptoms:

• reduced physical capacity
• nocturnal urination (caused by fluid retained in the tissues, which is excreted by the kidneys during the night)
• strong palpitations through to cardiac arrhythmias

Left-sided heart failure is additionally characterised by the following specific symptoms:

• cognitive impairment
• kidney damage
• laboured or rapid breathing (caused by fluid accumulation in the lungs)
• pallor
• coughing episodes

Right-sided heart failure is notable for the following particular symptoms:

• leg oedema
• liver damage
• gastric damage

Good to know: In most cases, heart failure presents with symptoms of both sides of the heart.

At avi, successful treatment of your heart failure involves a combination of two components: the avoidance of risk factors and targeted treatment of your underlying condition.

In concrete terms, this includes:

• long-term measures to reduce blood pressure (through lifestyle modification counselling or medication)
• diagnosis of any existing heart valve defects, including referral with the aim of surgical treatment
• the prevention or treatment of existing atherosclerosis
• specific vaccinations (pneumococcal, influenza)
• in the event that your heart failure is already very advanced: referral to hospital with the aim of invasive therapies (pacemaker, bypass surgery, or heart transplantation)