page_title: Heart failure
section_title: Acute decompensation
hierarchical_section_title: Heart failure / Causes / Acute decompensation
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Kerley-B-Linien bei akuter kardialer Dekompensation. Die kurzen, waagerechen Linien finden sich pleuranah vor allem rechts lateral basal. English: Kerley B lines in acute cardiac decompensation. The short, horizontal lines can be found everywhere in the right lung.
context_page_description: Heart failure, also known as congestive heart failure and congestive cardiac failure, is when the heart is unable to pump sufficiently to maintain blood flow to meet the body's needs. Signs and symptoms of heart failure commonly include shortness of breath, excessive tiredness, and leg swelling. The shortness of breath is usually worse with exercise or while lying down, and may wake the person at night. A limited ability to exercise is also a common feature. Chest pain, including angina, does not typically occur due to heart failure.
  Common causes of heart failure include coronary artery disease, including a previous myocardial infarction, high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, valvular heart disease, excess alcohol use, infection, and cardiomyopathy of an unknown cause. These cause heart failure by changing either the structure or the function of the heart. The two types of left ventricular heart failure – heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction – are based on whether the ability of the left ventricle to contract, or to relax, is affected.
context_section_description: Chronic stable heart failure may easily decompensate. This most commonly results from a concurrent illness (such as myocardial infarction (a heart attack) or pneumonia), abnormal heart rhythms, uncontrolled hypertension, or a person's failure to maintain a fluid restriction, diet, or medication. Other factors that may worsen CHF include: anemia, hyperthyroidism, excessive fluid or salt intake, and medication such as NSAIDs and thiazolidinediones. NSAIDs increase the risk twofold.
caption: Kerley B lines in acute cardiac decompensation. The short, horizontal lines can be found everywhere in the right lung.
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