Servet update. Congestive Heart Failure

Javier Esteban Rodríguez Velarde earned his degree in veterinary medicine from the Universidad Agraria of Ecuador in 2006. He trained in the Cardiology Service at the California Animal Hospital (United States) and in other cardiology and ultrasound services in both human and veterinary medicine. He was a veterinary clinician at Lucky veterinary hospital, Quito (Ecuador), from 2006 to 2010, where he founded the cardiology and ultrasound service and served as medical director from 2010 until 2015. Since 2011, he has been a professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Universidad San Francisco (USFQ) of Quito and a cardiologist and ultrasonographer at the USFQ Veterinary Specialty Hospital. He is currently medical director of the Cardiomedicc veterinary cardiology and ultrasound centre. He has lectured on cardiology, ultrasonography, and intensive care in more than 40 courses and international conferences in Ecuador and elsewhere.

1. Definition
2. Pathophysiology
Mechanisms
Compensatory mechanisms
Neurohumoral activation
Cardiac remodelling and congestion
3. Clinical approach
Evaluation of clinical signs
Respiratory clinical signs
Clinical signs of low cardiac output
General or systemic clinical signs
Left-sided CHF
Right-sided CHF
Functional classification
4. Diagnosis
Echocardiography
Structural assessment of the left ventricle
Assessing left ventricle systolic function
Structural assessment of the left atrium
Estimation of left ventricular diastolic filling pressure
Ultrasound findings in left-sided CHF
Structural assessment of the right ventricle and atrium
Ultrasound findings in right-sided CHF
Pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade
Biomarkers
Radiography
Electrocardiography
Supraventricular tachyarrhythmias
Ventricular arrhythmias
5. Treatment principles
Emergency treatment
Oxygen therapy
Ventilatory support
Drainage of effusions
Anxiety control
Furosemide
Dobutamine
Sodium nitroprusside
Long-term treatment
Diuretics
Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors
Pimobendan
Digoxin
Sildenafil
Antiarrhythmics
Beta blockers
Dietary considerations
Long-term drug treatment
References