Rx Note

Introduction Heart failure is not a single pathological diagnosis, but a clinical syndrome consisting of cardinal symptoms (e.g. breathlessness, ankle swelling and fatigue ) that may be accompanied by signs (e.g. elevated jugular venous pressure, pulmonary crackles, and peripheral oedema ). It is due to a structural and/or functional abnormality of the heart that results in elevated intracardiac pressures and/or inadequate cardiac output at rest and/or during exercise . The median survival following a diagnosis is around 3 to 5 years. A commonly used classification is by left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). HFrEF - Heart failure with reduced ventricular ejection fraction (i.e.≤ 40%) HFmrEF - Heart failure with mildly reduced ventricular ejection fraction (i.e. 41-49%) HFpEF - Heart failure with preserved ventricular ejection fraction (i.e. ≥50%) New York Heart Association (NYHA) Functional Classification The simplest terminology used to describe the severity of HF is the NYHA fun...