Definition
Heart failure is a global term for the physiological state in which cardiac output is insufficient for the needs of the body. In case the low cardiac output itself is the underlying cause, this is often termed congestive heart failure. Common causes of heart failure include myocardial infarction, hypertension, valvular heart disease, and cardiomyopathy. The PDE3 inhibitor milrinone is used for the treatment of congenital heart failure. However, one of its side effects is ventricular arrhythmias which might be fatal and therefore it is only prescribed when conventional treatment with vasodilators and diuretics has proven to be insufficient.
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© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Prickaerts, J. (2010). Congestive Heart Failure. In: Stolerman, I.P. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychopharmacology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-68706-1_1537
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-68706-1_1537
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-68698-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-68706-1
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