Patient/caregiver was educated on pathophysiology of systolic heart failure as follows:
- Systole is the phase of heartbeat, when the heart muscle contracts. During contraction, the heart chambers pump the blood into circulation, to all the vital organs of the body.
- Diastole is the phase of heartbeat, when the heart muscle relaxes During relaxation, the heart chambers get filled with blood.
- Systolic heart failure is an abnormal condition of the heart, in which the heart muscle is damaged and thinned-out, due to over stretching.
- Damaged heart muscle cannot contract effectively, contributing to poor contractions of the heart chambers.
- Ineffective and poor contractions of heart result in inability of heart chambers to pump adequate blood to vital organs, such as, heart, brain, and kidneys.
- Inadequate blood supply to vital organs, in due course of time, contribute to progressively compromised vital organ function.
- Inadequate pumping of blood out of heart contributes to increased retention and back-up of blood in the heart during systole.
- When the heart muscle is in failure and not functioning optimally, blood backs up and accumulated in the heart chambers, lungs, and peripheral veins.
- Progressive back-up of blood can result in symptoms of heart failure such as, fluid retention in the chest leading to difficulty in gas exchange in the lungs, poor oxygen pick-up in the lungs, swelling of the extremities with pitting edema, acute weight gain, and compromised exercise tolerance with exacerbation of shortness of breath.
- Increased back-up with retention of blood in the heart chambers can increase the pressure within the heart and resist filling of the heart during diastole, as the chambers are already loaded with backed up blood.
- If this situation is not controlled and the damage continues further, progressive back-up of blood, increased pressure within the heart, and difficulty filling the heart during diastole, result in diastolic heart failure.
