Wagner S, Cohn K
Arch Intern Med. 1977 May;137(5):675-8. doi: 10.1001/archinte.137.5.675.
Heart failure exists when either the systolic or diastolic operation of the ventricle is impaired to a degree that, despite compensatory mechanisms, the demands of the peripheral organs are not satisfied, the peripheral muscle shortens inadequately, and/or the pulmonary or systemic venous system becomes congested from high filling pressures. Since every pumping system has finite limits and can fail if excessive and prolonged demands are made on it, any definition of failure must take into consideration the degree of stress imposed and whether or not the cardiac response is appropriate or subnormal. When failure is present, it becomes essential to discern whether it involves the intrinsic pumping structures of the heart, the myocardial cells, or, rather, whether failure of one of the other components of the integrated cardiovascular system (for example, valvular dysfunction, ruptured ventricular septum) has occurred.
当心室的收缩或舒张功能受损到一定程度，尽管存在代偿机制，但仍无法满足外周器官的需求，外周肌肉收缩不足，和/或肺或体循环静脉系统因高充盈压而出现充血时，即存在心力衰竭。由于每个泵血系统都有其有限的极限，如果对其提出过度和持续的需求，就可能发生衰竭，因此任何关于衰竭的定义都必须考虑到所施加的压力程度以及心脏的反应是适当还是低于正常水平。当出现衰竭时，辨别其是否涉及心脏的内在泵血结构、心肌细胞，还是综合心血管系统的其他组成部分之一（例如，瓣膜功能障碍、室间隔破裂）发生了衰竭就变得至关重要。
