Tan L B, Al-Timman J K, Marshall P, Cooke G A
Institute of Cardiovascular Research, University of Leeds, UK.
Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1996;49 Suppl 1:S11-8.
Unlike hypertension, heart failure is not readily identified, defined and evaluated. Research and clinical management of heart failure has been handicapped by the absence of a clear definition. In other branches of medicine, e.g. renal or pulmonary failure can be clearly defined with the help of direct measures of organ function. Unfortunately such a parameter does not exist in cardiology to help us with defining cardiac function or failure. Representative definitions of heart failure hitherto proposed are reviewed. A common error in these 'definitions' is the confusion between formulating a definition and giving instructions on how to identify or diagnose heart failure. Other short-comings are also recognised. From these it is possible to compile criteria which a definition of heart failure should possess. When formulating any definition, in order to avoid unnecessary detail, the importance of including only the essence and not the contingents is recognised. To find a new definition which complies best with these criteria is an important challenge facing cardiologists.
与高血压不同，心力衰竭不容易被识别、定义和评估。心力衰竭的研究和临床管理因缺乏明确的定义而受到阻碍。在医学的其他分支中，例如肾衰竭或肺衰竭可以借助器官功能的直接测量方法得到明确的定义。不幸的是，心脏病学中不存在这样一个参数来帮助我们定义心脏功能或心力衰竭。本文回顾了迄今为止提出的心力衰竭的代表性定义。这些“定义”中常见的一个错误是在制定定义和给出如何识别或诊断心力衰竭的指导说明之间产生混淆。其他缺点也已被认识到。由此可以编制出心力衰竭定义应具备的标准。在制定任何定义时，为避免不必要的细节，人们认识到只包含本质而非偶然因素的重要性。找到一个最符合这些标准的新定义是心脏病学家面临的一项重要挑战。
