The symptoms of main heart diseases are described..
The symptoms of Alcoholic cardiomyopathy
Symptoms presented by the occurrence of alcoholic cardiomyopathy are the result of the heart failing and usually occur after the disease has progressed to an advanced stage. Therefore the symptoms have a lot in common with other forms of cardiomyopathy. These symptoms can include…
· Ankle, feet, and leg swelling
· Overall swelling
· Loss of appetite
· Shortness of breath, especially with activity
· Breathing difficulty while lying down
· Fatigue, weakness, faintness
· Decreased alertness or concentration
· Cough containing mucus, or pink, frothy material
· Decreased urine output (oliguria)
· Need to urinate at night (nocturia)
· Palpitations
· Irregular or rapid pulse
The symptoms of congenital heart defect (CHD)
Signs and symptoms are related to the type and severity of the heart defect. Symptoms frequently present early in life, but it's possible for some CHDs to go undetected throughout life. Some children have no signs while others may exhibit shortness of breath, cyanosis, syncope, heart murmur, under-developing of limbs and muscles, poor feeding or growth, or respiratory infections. Congenital heart defects because abnormal heart structure resulting in production of certain sounds called heart murmur. These can sometimes be detected by auscultation; however, not all heart murmurs are caused by congenital heart defects
The symptoms of Hypertensive heart disease
· Fatigue
· Irregular pulse
· Swelling of feet
· Weight gain
· Nausea
· Shortness of breath
· Difficulty sleeping flat in bed
· Bloating
· Greater need to urinate at night
The symptoms of Ischaemic heart disease
Ischaemic heart disease may be present with any of the following problems:
Angina pectoris (chest pain on exertion, in cold weather or emotional situations)
Acute chest pain: acute coronary syndrome, unstable angina or myocardial infarction ("heart attack", severe chest pain unrelieved by rest associated with evidence of acute heart damage)
Heart failure (difficulty in breathing or swelling of the extremities due to weakness of the heart muscle)
The symptoms of Heart failure
The symptoms of pulmonary heart disease depend on the stage of the disorder. In the early stages, one may have no symptoms but as pulmonary heart disease progresses, most individuals will develop the symptoms like:
· Shortness of breath which occurs on exertion but when severe can occur at rest
· Wheezing
· Chronic wet cough
· Swelling of the abdomen with fluid (ascites)
· Swelling of the ankles and feet (pedal edema)
· Enlargement or prominent neck and facial veins
· Enlargement of the liver
· Bluish discoloration of face
· Presence of abnormal heart sounds
The symptoms of Coronary heart disease
Coronary heart disease may be asymptomatic. If not, symptoms can include:
· Chest heaviness
· Dyspnea
· Fatigue
· Chest pain
· Angina
· Myocardial infarction is a complication of coronary disease. It is sometimes classified as a symptom.
The symptoms of (Congestive) heart failure
Heart failure symptoms are traditionally and somewhat arbitrarily divided into "left" and "right" sided, recognizing that the left and right ventricles of the heart supply different portions of the circulation. However, heart failure is not exclusively backward failure (in the part of the circulation which drains to the ventricle).
There are several other exceptions to a simple left-right division of heart failure symptoms. Left sided forward failure overlaps with right sided backward failure. Additionally, the most common cause of right-sided heart failure is left-sided heart failure. The result is that patients commonly present with both sets of signs and symptoms.
Left-sided failure
Backward failure of the left ventricle causes congestion of the pulmonary vasculature, and so the symptoms are predominantly respiratory in nature. Backward failure can be subdivided into failure of the left atrium, the left ventricle or both within the left circuit. The patient will have dyspnea (shortness of breath) on exertion (dyspnée d'effort) and in severe cases, dyspnea at rest. Increasing breathlessness on lying flat, called orthopnea, occurs. It is often measured in the number of pillows required to lie comfortably, and in severe cases, the patient may resort to sleeping while sitting up. Another symptom of heart failure is paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea also known as "cardiac asthma", a sudden nighttime attack of severe breathlessness, usually several hours after going to sleep. Easy fatigueability and exercise intolerance are also common complaints related to respiratory compromise.
Compromise of left ventricular forward function may result in symptoms of poor systemic circulation such as dizziness, confusion and cool extremities at rest.
Right-sided failure
Backward failure of the right ventricle leads to congestion of systemic capillaries. This generates excess fluid accumulation in the body. This causes swelling under the skin (termed peripheral edema or anasarca) and usually affects the dependent parts of the body first (causing foot and ankle swelling in people who are standing up, and sacral edema in people who are predominantly lying down). Nocturia (frequent nighttime urination) may occur when fluid from the legs is returned to the bloodstream while lying down at night. In progressively severe cases, ascites (fluid accumulation in the abdominal cavity causing swelling) and hepatomegaly (enlargement of the liver) may develop. Significant liver congestion may result in impaired liver function, and jaundice and even coagulopathy (problems of decreased blood clotting) may occur.
Left-sided failure
Common respiratory signs are tachypnea (increased rate of breathing) and increased work of breathing (non-specific signs of respiratory distress). Rales or crackles, heard initially in the lung bases, and when severe, throughout the lung fields suggest the development of pulmonary edema (fluid in the alveoli). Cyanosis which suggests severe hypoxemia, is a late sign of extremely severe pulmonary edema.
Additional signs indicating left ventricular failure include a laterally displaced apex beat (which occurs if the heart is enlarged) and a gallop rhythm (additional heart sounds) may be heard as a marker of increased blood flow, or increased intra-cardiac pressure. Heart murmurs may indicate the presence of valvular heart disease, either as a cause (e.g. aortic stenosis) or as a result (e.g., mitral regurgitation) of the heart failure
Right-sided failure
Physical examination can reveal pitting peripheral edema, ascites, and hepatomegaly. Jugular venous pressure is frequently assessed as a marker of fluid status, which can be accentuated by the hepatojugular reflux. If the right ventriclar pressure is increased, a parasternal heave may be present, signifying the compensatory increase in contraction strength.
Biventricular failure
Dullness of the lung fields to finger percussion and reduced breath sounds at the bases of the lung may suggest the development of a pleural effusion (fluid collection in between the lung and the chest wall). Though it can occur in isolated left- or right-sided heart failure, it is more common in biventricular failure because pleural veins drain both into the systemic and pulmonary venous system. When unilateral, effusions are often right-sided, presumably because of the larger surface area of the right lung.
The symptoms of Hypertensive cardiomyopathy
· Fatigue
· Irregular pulse
· Swelling of feet
· Weight gain
· Nausea
· Shortness of breath
· Difficulty sleeping flat in bed
· Bloating
· Greater need to urinate at night
The symptoms of Cardiac arrhythmias
The term cardiac arrhythmia covers a very large number of very different conditions.
The most common symptom of arrhythmia is an abnormal awareness of heartbeat, called palpitations. These may be infrequent, frequent, or continuous. Some of these arrhythmias are harmless (though distracting for patients) but many of them predispose to adverse outcomes.
Some arrhythmias do not cause symptoms, and are not associated with increased mortality. However, some asymptomatic arrhythmias are associated with adverse events. Examples include a higher risk of blood clotting within the heart and a higher risk of insufficient blood being transported to the heart because of weak heartbeat. Other increased risks are of embolisation and stroke, heart failure and sudden cardiac death.
If an arrhythmia results in a heartbeat that is too fast, too slow or too weak to supply the body's needs, this manifests as a lower blood pressure and may cause lightheadedness or dizziness, or fainting.
Some types of arrhythmia result in cardiac arrest, or sudden death.
Medical assessment of the abnormality using an electrocardiogram is the best way to diagnose and assess the risk of any given arrhythmia.
The symptoms of Inflammatory cardiomegaly
The signs and symptoms associated with myocarditis are varied, and relate either to the actual inflammation of the myocardium, or the weakness of the heart muscle that is secondary to the inflammation. Signs and symptoms of myocarditis include:
· Chest pain (often described as "stabbing" in character)
· Congestive heart failure (leading to edema, breathlessness and hepatic congestion)
· Palpitations (due to arrhythmias)
· Sudden death (in young adults, myocarditis causes up to 20% of all cases of sudden death)
· Fever (especially when infectious, e.g. in rheumatic fever)
· Symptoms in infants and toddlers tend to be more non-specific with generalized malaise, poor appetite, abdominal pain, chronic cough. Later stages of the illness will present with respiratory symptoms with increased work of breathing and is often mistaken for asthma.
