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congestive heart failure

congestive heart failure

10 3.5
A condition in which the heart cannot pump blood well, causing fluid to build up in the body
  • noun
  • /kənˈdʒɛstɪv hɑrt ˈfeɪljər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : insuficiencia cardíaca congestiva
  • Roosevelt experienced congestive heart failure and chronic pulmonary disease as a consequence of his hypertension and smoking.
  • patients with congestive heart failure
  • chronic congestive heart failure
  • history of congestive heart failure

This is FDA approved for hypertension or high blood pressure and for congestive heart failure.

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Examples

  • None of these dogs had evidence of congestive heart failure at the time of the radiographs.

    Academic text (2010)
  • Patients had high fever and were severely ill at admission; more than half had congestive heart failure (Table 1).

    Academic text (2014)
  • If somebody does not have an insurance plan and they have congestive heart failure, who or what could possibly make their care better?

  • You have congestive heart failure.

  • All patients presented initially with congestive heart failure of at least 6 months' duration.

    Academic text (1991)
  • The patient was therefore included in the study because congestive heart failure preceded hypoxia.

    Academic text (1991)
  • The doctor consented, and the X-ray showed the early signs of congestive heart failure.

    Academic text (2003)
  • The major use of Coenzyme Q10 would be in the case of congestive heart failure, where it is particularly effective.

    Academic text (2007)
  • We report a case of VLS with pleural effusions in conjunction with congestive heart failure.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Her husband, Kenneth, 54, suffers from congestive heart failure and requires repeated hospitalization.

Synonyms

heart failure
vscongestive heart failure
  • Specialized
48 3.0

A condition when the heart cannot pump enough blood around the body

includes the same pump failure but also causes fluid buildup in tissues
cardiac insufficiency
vscongestive heart failure
  • Specialized
5.7

The heart cannot pump enough blood to the body, causing tiredness and shortness of breath

emphasizes pump failure while the key adds tissue fluid buildup
coronary failure
vscongestive heart failure
  • Specialized
5.1

A condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood for the body

highlights same pumping weakness but also involves fluid accumulation in tissues

Surface Forms

Morphology

congestive + heart + failure

The term is fully compositional: 'congestive' (relating to fluid buildup) + 'heart' (the pumping organ) + 'failure' (loss of normal function) directly yields the meaning of the heart failing and causing congestion. This medical construction is transparent and parallels equivalents in many languages, so a learner who knows the constituent words can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Congestive heart failure comes from the simple image of the heart as a pump and the blood vessels as pipes: if the pipes are congestive (full or clogged) the pump can fail and fluid 'builds up' in the body. That's why the term means the heart is 'not working' well and extra fluid collects in the body.