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Congestive Heart Failure

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Congestive Heart Failure
Toni Belsito
Brookdale Community College
HESC 105 Medical Terminology

Congestive Heart Failure
Congestive heart hailure, also known as CHF or heart failure, affects the lives of 5 million Americans each year with 550,000 new cases diagnosed yearly. (Emory healthcare, 2013) CHF is a medical condition in which the heart has become weak and cannot pump enough blood to meet the need for oxygen rich blood required by the vital organs of the body, less blood is pumped out of the heart to the organs and tissues in the body and pressure in the heart increases, it does not mean the heart has stopped working. (Murphy, 2013) Once the heart has become weakened by conditions such as hypertension, abnormal heart
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The physician will order lab tests such as electrolyte panel, creatinine and albumin levels to determine if there are any abnormalities with the liver and kidney functions, a chest x-ray may be performed to determine if the heart is enlarged and an Electrocardiogram to see if the patient has ventricle thickening, abnormal heart rhythm or even a heart attack. Once these tests have been completed the physician may order a MUGA scan or cardiac catheterization to determine the patient ejection fraction or EF, but most common practice is to order an echocardiogram, which is less invasive, to determine the ejection fraction. (Association, American Heart, 2013) Ejection fraction, usually stated as a percentage, determines how well the heart pumps with each beat. A normal heart will pump a little more than half the heart’s blood volume with each beat. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), measures the amount of blood pumped out of the left ventricle of the heart with each contraction. Right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF), measures the amount of blood pumped out of the right side of the heart to the lungs for oxygen. A normal EF ranges from 55-77% and will be lower when the heart muscle has been damaged by cardiomyopathy, heart attack or other disease that have weakened the heart muscle. An ejection fraction of 40% usually confirms the diagnosis of heart failure and an ejection fraction of less than 35% puts the patient at risk of life
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