Congestive Heart Failure
Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet your body’s needs.
Although the term sounds frightening, the definition of congestive heart failure does not mean your heart has stopped — it just indicates it is not working effectively.
Causes of CHF often may include:
- severe coronary artery disease, which decreases blood flow to the heart muscle
- a previous heart attack, which weakens the muscle tissue in the heart
- prolonged high blood pressure
- cardiomyopathy
- abnormal heart valves
- congenital heart disease
- alcohol and drug abuse
- certain kinds of infections
According to the American Heart Association, more than 5 million people in the United States are currently living with heart failure and it's the most common reason for older adults to go to the hospital.
A full-service heart failure program
UPMC’s Advanced Heart Failure Center is among the nation’s leading programs of its kind and the only full-service center in western Pennsylvania. We offer standard and minimally invasive procedures to treat congestive heart failure and other serious heart conditions.
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