Question

1. Differentiate the four stages of heart failur idebtifying the level of dysfunction

2. define Ejection. What does it measure? what are normal values?

Answer 1

1. Heart failure is known as the decreased ability of the heart to function properly which is caused by a lack of blood supply to the heart muscle due to coronary artery disease.

Stages of heart failure:-

There are 4 stages of heart failure

STAGE	SYMPTOMS AND MANAGEMENT
stage-1	- In this stage patient does not have any typical symptoms. He/she can continue physical activity also. -it can be managed by lifestyle changes and with minimum medications.
stage-2	- The patient experiences palpitations, dyspnoea during physical activity but patient is comfortable during rest. - It requires medication and lifestyle changes for the management.
stage-3	- In this stage, the patient experiences palpitations and shortness of breath even during mild exercise like walking. - The symptoms vanish at rest. - In this stage, the treatment is very complicated, sometimes the patient needs inpatient care.
stage-4	- The symptoms like palpitation, shortness of breath, dyspnoea, fatigue are present always even at rest. - There is no cure of stage-4 heart failure, but patient can improve quality of life by some medications.

2.

Ejection:-

Ejection means the fraction of blood in the left ventricle which is ejected in a contraction of the left ventricle to the aorta.

It measures the amount of blood that is ejected to the aorta in each contraction of the left ventricle, It is measured in the echocardiography.

The normal ejection fraction of left ventricle is 60-65%