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Section: Information In-depth
Congestive heart failure leads to inadequate blood flow to the tissues of the body, resulting in depression and fatigue. Accumulation of fluid often impairs breathing. When the fluid accumulates in the lungs (pulmonary edema) or around the lungs (pleural effusion), the condition can become life threatening. Though dramatic, the symptoms of congestive heart failure are not specific for only that condition. As there are dozens of reasons for coughing, difficult breathing and fatigue; therefore, your veterinarian must formulate a diagnostic plan to make a correct diagnosis. The conditions most often confused with heart failure are diseases of the airways, the lung and the chest cavity (pleural space) including:
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a myocardial disease, which is disease of the heart muscle that is characterized by dilation (enlargement) of the cardiac chambers and markedly reduced muscle contraction....
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a condition characterized by thickening of the main pumping chamber of the heart. Eventually, HCM often leads to congestive heart failure.
Pleural effusion is an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the pleural space, which is the cavity between the lungs and the thoracic wall. Normally, some fluid is present in the pleural space to lubricate...
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