Symptoms, signs, and etiologies of heart failure

Symptoms

  • Dyspnea, nocturnal dyspnea, orthopnea.
  • Cough, frothy sputum.
  • Oppression.

Signs

  • Tachycardia.
  • Turgor jugular.
  • Crackles
  • Prolonged expiration, sibilance.
  • S4 and S3 on cardiac auscultation.

After starting treatment seeking an etiology:

  1. Cardiomyopathy of recent onset
  2. Ischemic heart disease
  3. Hypertenive crisis / Pheochromocytoma
  4. Valvulopathy
  5. Tamponnade
  6. Congenital heart disease
  7. Pulmonary emboli
  8. Atrial myxoma
  9. Intracranial bleeding
  10. High cardiac output (fistula, anemia, Paget, béri-béri, dysthyroiditis).

Treatment