Electrocardiography of Heart Failure: Features and Arrhythmias

Abstract

While this chapter addresses the electrocardiographic (ECG) features of heart failure (HF) and physiologically significant arrhythmias in patients with HF, neither ECG findings nor specific arrhythmias establish the diagnosis of HF, regardless of its origin. The diagnosis of HF is established by the patient’s symptoms and physical signs, along with confirmatory evidence of mechanical heart dysfunction (e.g., by echocardiography or cardiac catheterization). HF can be due to systolic and/or diastolic dysfunction affecting one or both ventricles. Regardless of which, because of ventricular interdependence, HF ultimately leads to compromise of both systemic and pulmonary hemodynamics. Unchecked, the end result is multiorgan system failure and death, whether HF results from congenital or acquired heart disease. This chapter highlights the ECG features of HF and arrhythmias in patients with HF.