Chronic congestive heart failure is caused by abnormal structural and functional changes to the heart and a number of triggering factors. Most commonly, heart failure is caused by coronary artery disease (CAD) and heart attack,[1] which lead to an initial injury to the heart and numerous downstream effects. Other triggering factors of heart failure include:[1]
- Arrhythmia (uncontrolled)
- Myocarditis (inflammation of the heart caused by infection or autoimmune disease)
- Cardiomyopathy
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Congenital heart disease
- Diabetes
- Endocarditis
- Heart valve diseases
- Hypertension
- Obesity
- Pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lungs)