Heart failure diagnosis starts with the medical and family histories, physical exam, blood test and other diagnostic procedures.
Heart failure Diagnostic tests
The symptoms of heart failure are common in other conditions and needs to diagnose properly.
- Diagnose whether have any disease condition that can cause heart failures, such as coronary heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, or diabetes.
- Rule out other causes of the symptoms
- Diagnose any damage to the heart and measure the hearts pumping capacity.
Early diagnosis and proper treatment can help people with heart failure to live longer without major complications.
Medical and Family Histories
- Doctor asks, whether you or your family members have or have had a disease condition that can cause heart failure.
- Doctor likes to hear about the symptoms such as what, when, how long and how severe are the symptoms.
Physical Exam
- Examine heart sound abnormalities.
- Examine the sound for any extra fluid build-up in the lungs.
- Examine the swelling in ankles, feet, legs, abdomen, and veins in the neck.
Heart failure Tests
- EKG (Electrocardiogram) records electrical pulses of heart, which shows; strength and timing, helps to find how fast the heart is beating, and its rhythm is steady or irregular. Shows, whether the hearts pumping chambers walls are thicker than normal, if so it makes the heart harder to pump blood.
- Chest X-ray – provides the picture of heart, lungs, and blood vessels. In can show the heart size abnormalities, fluid build-up in the lungs, or having lung disease.
- BNP blood test - measures the level of hormone BNP, rises during heart failure.
- Echocardiography produces actual moving picture of the heart. It provides information about the size and shape of heart, heart chamber and valve functioning. It is useful to pinpoint the areas of poor blood flow, contraction abnormalities and any injury in heart muscles. Sometimes this test performs both before and after physical stress, helps to show whether there is a lack of blood flow to the heart during stress.
- Doppler imaging helps to measure the speed and direction of blood flow. Useful to find whether have right side heart failure, that is the heart cannot fill enough blood.
- Holter monitor records the heart rhythm for 24 to 48 hours without affecting your normal daily activities. It is a small box that can be easily carried, and it is connected with an electrode is attached on the chest.
- Nuclear heart scans measures the blood passing through the heart and blood reaching the heart muscles. Nuclear heart scan is by injecting a radioactive substance into the bloodstream, which is visible through a special camera. The healthier heart muscle appears as bright light, but it does not with damaged heart muscle.
- Cardiac catheterization has a long, thin, flexible tube called a catheter is put into a blood vessel in the arm, thigh, or neck and thread it to the heart. It is useful to study the insides of the coronary arteries, which carry oxygen-rich blood to the heart.
- Coronary angiography - A catheter (thin, flexible tube) is inserting into a blood vessel in the arm, thigh, or neck. Inject a special dye that can be visible on X-ray into the arteries. By seeing this picture, doctor can diagnose any blockage in the arteries and its severity. This test also shows how well the heart is pumping.
- Stress Testing is performing by making the heart work hard and beat faster by exercising, if not able to do exercise, then medication is useful to speed up heart. When heart work harder it needs more blood and oxygen, if the arteries are narrowing it cannot provide enough blood or oxygen. Any abnormality such as heart rate, heart rhythm, blood pressure, shortness of breath, and chest pain are helpful in the diagnosis.
- Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) shows the structures and beating of the heart. Help to locate damaged parts of the heart. It is useful to find early signs of heart failure, even before symptoms start to appear.
- Positron emission tomography (PET) scanning can show blood flow problems that other diagnostic procedures missed indicating.
- Thyroid function tests are to find how well the thyroid is working. Having extreme hypo or hyper-thyroidism in the blood can cause heart failure.