Heart Failure Flashcards
What is measured in people with suspected heart failure?
N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP)
What level of NT-proBNP would result in urgent referral to have specialist assessment within 2 weeks?
2000ng/litre (236pmol/litre)
Which investigation is carried out in someone with suspected heart failure who has a high NT-proBNP?
Transthoracic echocardiography
A level below what of NT-proBNP would make a diagnosis of heart failure very unlikely?
400ng/litre (47pmol/litre)
In someone with an NT-proBNP of between 400ng-2000ng/litre, within how long do they have to be seen by?
6 weeks
What are the myocardial diseases that can lead to heart failure? (3)
- Coronary artery disease (most common)
- Hypertension
- Cardiomyopathies (familial, infective, immune-mediated, toxins, pregnancy)
What are the high output states that can leads to heart failure? (7)
- Anaemia
- Thyrotoxicosis
- Phaechromocytoma
- Sepsis
- Liver failure
- Paget’s disease
- Thiamine deficiency (B1)
What are the volume overload states that can lead to heart failure? (2)
- End-stage CKD
2. Nephrotic syndrome
In addition to the myocardial diseases, high output states and volume overland, what else can cause heart failure? (5)
- Obesity
- Drugs - alcohol, cocaine, NSAIDs
- Arrhythmias
- Pericardial disease
- Valvular heart disease
What is the prognosis for heart failure - what % of people will die with 5 years of diagnosis?
50%
What are the complications of heart failure?
- Atrial fibrillation - most common arrhythmia in people with heart failure (50% of people with severe HF)
- Depression
- Cachexia (associated with reduced ejection fraction)
- CKD
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sudden cardiac death
What are the typical symptoms of heart failure?
- Breathlessness
- Fluid retention
- Fatigue
- Dizziness/syncope
What are the different types of breathlessness, important to ask about with heart failure?
Is it:
- On exertion?
- At rest?
- Lying flat (orthopnoea)
- At night/waking from sleep? (paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnoea)
What are the risk factors for developing heart failure? (3)
- Coronary artery disease (previous MI, hypertension, AF, diabetes)
- Drugs/alcohol
- FHx (heart failure or sudden cardiac death under 40 years of age) `
What should you look for on examination of someone with suspected heart failure? (8)
- Tachycardia (<100bpm) and pulse rhythm
- Laterally displaced apex beat, heart murmurs, gallop rhythm
- Hypertension
- Raised JVP
- Hepatomegaly
- Tachypnoea, basal crepitations, pleural effusions
- Oedema/ascites
- Oedema