Key result
Neurocognitive dysfunction in chronic heart failure is a significant morbidity with multiple potential causes, requiring thorough diagnostic evaluation as it may be partially reversible.
Highlights the importance of recognizing and evaluating neurocognitive dysfunction in severe heart failure patients, as underlying causes may be partially reversible.
Neurocognitive evaluation merits consideration in chronic heart failure; leaves open optimal diagnostic and therapeutic strategies pending prospective trials.
Often ignored, neurocognitive dysfunction in chronic heart failure represents a daunting morbidity progressing to loss of self-reliance. Although the precise mechanisms arbitrating the development of this disorder remain elusive, microembolization and cerebral hypoperfusion are implicated. Other causes of cognitive decline may include prior cardiac surgery, chronic hypertension, sleep disordered breathing, hyperhomocysteinemia, dementia of aging, and more traditional causes such as Alzheimer's disease. The discovery of neurocognitive defects in heart failure must prompt a well-constructed diagnostic evaluation to search for the underlying causes since this process may be at least partially reversible in many cases.
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Sangha et al. (2002) conducted a review in Severe Heart Failure with Neurocognitive Dysfunction. Neurocognitive dysfunction in chronic heart failure is a significant morbidity with multiple potential causes, requiring thorough diagnostic evaluation as it may be partially reversible.
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