How can congestive heart failure be diagnosed

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Stay Informed. Connect with us. Congestive Heart Failure Symptoms and Diagnosis. What is congestive heart failure? What are the most common symptoms of congestive heart failure? Table 6. Evaluation and Diagnosis of Heart Failure Figure 1. Read the full article. Get immediate access, anytime, anywhere.

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Heart failure. Volume overload or heart failure decompensation. Atrial fibrillation or other arrhythmias. Fluid overload e. Hyper- or hypothyroid disease. Renal causes e. Systemic infection or septic shock.

No limitations of physical activity. No heart failure symptoms. Mild limitation of physical activity. Marked limitation of physical activity. Heart failure symptoms with mild exertion; only comfortable at rest.

Discomfort with any activity. Heart failure symptoms occur at rest. Physical examination findings. Alternative causes. Initial tests. B-type natriuretic peptide level. Calcium and magnesium levels diuretics, cause of arrhythmia. Complete blood count anemia. Liver function hepatic congestion, volume overload. Renal function renal causes. Serum electrolyte level electrolyte imbalance.

Thyroid-stimulating hormone level thyroid disorders. Urinalysis renal causes. Other tests for alternative causes. Arterial blood gases hypoxia, pulmonary disease.

Blood cultures endocarditis, systemic infection. Human immunodeficiency virus cardiomyopathy. Thiamine level deficiency, beriberi, alcoholism. Tests for comorbid conditions, risk management. A1C level diabetes mellitus. Lipid profile hyperlipidemia. Finding has conclusive effect. Chest radiography: interstitial edema.

Chest radiography: venous congestion. Positive likelihood ratio of 5 to History of heart failure. Jugular venous distension. Positive likelihood ratio of 2 to 5. Framingham criteria for systolic heart failure.

Framingham criteria for heart failure. Framingham criteria for diastolic heart failure. Initial clinical judgment. History of myocardial infarction. Elevated N-terminal pro-BNP level. Chest radiography: cardiomegaly. Chest radiography: pleural effusion. ECG: atrial fibrillation. ECG: new T-wave change. Proper heart failure treatment can sometimes improve symptoms and help you live longer. You and your doctor can work together to help make you most comfortable.

Pay attention to your body and how you feel, and tell your doctor when you're feeling better or worse. This way, your doctor will know what treatment works best for you.

Managing heart failure requires an open communication between you and your doctor. Be honest about whether you're following recommendations concerning your diet, lifestyle and taking medications.

Your doctor often can suggest strategies to help you get and stay on track. If you think you may have heart failure or you are worried about your heart failure risk because of other underlying conditions, make an appointment with your family doctor. If heart failure is found early, your treatment may be easier and more effective. Because appointments can be brief and there's often a lot to discuss, it's a good idea to be prepared for your appointment.

Here's some information to help you get ready for your appointment and know what to expect from your doctor. Your time with your doctor is limited, so preparing a list of questions will help you make the most of your time together.

List your questions from most important to least important in case time runs out. For heart failure, some basic questions to ask your doctor include:. In addition to the questions that you've prepared to ask your doctor, don't hesitate to ask questions during your appointment at any time that you don't understand something. Your doctor is likely to ask you a number of questions. Being ready to answer them may reserve time to go over any points you want to spend more time on. Your doctor may ask:.

It's never too early to make healthy lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking, cutting down on salt and eating healthy foods. These changes can help prevent heart failure from starting or worsening. Heart failure care at Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. This content does not have an English version.

This content does not have an Arabic version. Diagnosis To diagnose heart failure, your doctor will take a careful medical history, review your symptoms and perform a physical examination.

Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Heart failure. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Accessed Oct. Ferri FF.

Heart failure. In: Ferri's Clinical Advisor Elsevier; Colucci WS. Determining the etiology and severity of heart failure or cardiomyopathy. Evaluation of the patient with suspected heart failure. Heart failure HF. Merck Manual Professional Version. Vasan RS, et al. Epidemiology and causes of heart failure. Goldman L, et al. Then the treadmill's speed will be increased for a faster pace, and the treadmill will be tilted up to produce the effect of going up a small hill.

You may be asked to breathe into a tube for a couple of minutes. Your heart rate and rhythm, breathing and blood pressure, and how tired you feel, will be monitored during the test. You'll be asked to keep up the pace for as long as you can, but you can stop the test at any time, if needed.

Afterward, you will sit or lie down while your heart and blood pressure are checked. The test is painless, although you may feel as though you're exercising strenuously during the test. An exercise stress test: Shows whether your heart responds normally to the stress of exercise. Reveals whether the blood supply is reduced in the arteries that supply your heart. Can help determine the kind and level of exercise that's appropriate for you. Radionuclide ventriculography or multiple-gated acquisition scanning abbreviated as MUGA How the procedure is done: Radioactive substances called radionuclides are injected into the bloodstream.

Computer-generated pictures can then display the locations of the radionuclides in the heart. It's a painless procedure, outside of a shot or an IV an intravenous drip line.

There's no lasting effect from the radionuclides. What the procedure shows: How well the heart muscle is supplied with blood How well the heart's chambers are working Whether part of the heart has been damaged by heart attack Learn more about Radionuclide Ventriculography or Radionuclide Angiography MUGA Scan.

Cardiac catheterization How the procedure is done: A very small tube catheter is inserted into a blood vessel in your upper thigh or arm. The tip of the tube is positioned either in the heart, or where the arteries supplying the heart originate. A special fluid called a contrast medium or dye is injected. This fluid is visible by X-ray. The pictures that are obtained are called angiograms.

This procedure may involve some discomfort from placement of the catheter. You may be required to rest in a certain position after the procedure. What cardiac catheterization shows: Blockages in the coronary arteries are visible on the X-rays. The parts of your heart that are fed by the blocked or narrowed arteries may be weakened or damaged from lack of blood.