Summary: Heart failure is a syndrome consisting of several symptoms (e.g. fatigue, breathlessness), eventually accompanied by signs (e.g. pulmonary crackles, peripheral oedema) due to structural and/or functional abnormalities of the heart. Signs may not be present in the early stages of heart failure and in optimally treated patients.
In the diagnosis of heart failure the crucial thing is to identify aetiology of cardiac failure (e.g. coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, valve disease, arrhythmias) to start the treatment and reduce mortality, prevent of recurrent hospitalizations and improve in clinical status, functional capacity and quality of life.