title: [Rational diagnosis of chronic heart failure].
abstract: Congestive heart failure is associated with a high mortality and morbidity. The aetiology of heart failure and the presence of exacerbating factors should be carefully assessed in all cases. The extent to which the cause of heart failure should be pursued by further investigations will depend on the resources available and the likelihood that a precise diagnosis will influence treatment. The clinical suspicion of heart failure should be confirmed by more objective tests, particularly aimed at assessing cardiac function. To achieve this goal a variety of non-invasive and invasive tests are available. For follow-up studies echocardiography and to a lesser extent chest x-ray may be helpful. It is expected that measurement of plasma concentration of natriuretic peptides may add important information to the diagnostic process of heart failure and will identify those patients at greatest risk for serious cardiovascular events. In the future, the development of new techniques in non-invasive diagnostic tests such as contrast echocardiography, computer tomography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging will extend the diagnostic spectrum of heart failure.
authors.affiliation: Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin II, Klinikum der Universität Regensburg. joachim.weil@klinik.uni-regensburg.de
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weil
authors.forename: Heribert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schunkert
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D004452:Echocardiography; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D011859:Radiography