complication of heart diseases; defective cardiac filling and/or impaired contraction and emptying, resulting in the heart's inability to pump a sufficient amount of blood to meet the needs of the body tissues or to be able to do so only with an elevated filling pressure.
Weakness of the heart muscle that leads to a buildup of fluid in body tissues.
1. inadequacy of the heart so that as a pump it fails to maintain the circulation of blood, with the result that congestion and edema develop in the tissues; SEE ALSO forward heart failure, backward heart failure, right ventricular failure, left ventricular failure. SYN cardiac failure, cardiac insufficiency, congestive heart failure, myocardial insufficiency. 2. resulting clinical syndromes including shortness of breath, pitting edema, enlarged tender liver, engorged neck veins, and pulmonary rales in various combinations.
Failure of proper functioning of the right ventricle, with venous engorgement, hepatic enlargement, and subcutaneous edema.