Causes of Heart Failure:

Congestive heart failure is generally the result of another disease, such as:

• A blood clot in an artery of the lungs

• Amyloidosis
• An over- or underactive thyroid gland, which can speed up or slow down the pumping of
the heart, causing it not to completely fill or empty as it should
• Anemia
• Certain lung disorders
• Certain parasites that get into the heart muscle in tropical countries
• Constrictive pericarditis
• Coronary artery disease
• Disorders of the heart's electrical conduction system
• Heart valve disorders
• Kidney failure, which causes fluid to build up in the blood stream, making it harder for the
heart to work
• Myocarditis
• Untreated or inadequately treated high blood pressure

http://www.csmc.edu/5655.html

In older children, congestive heart failure may be caused by left-sided obstructive disease (aortic
stenosis or coarctation); myocardial dysfunction (myocarditis or cardiomyopathy); hypertension;
renal failure; or, more rarely, arrhythmias or myocardial ischemia. Illicit drugs such as inhaled
cocaine and other stimulants are increasingly precipitating causes of congestive heart failure in
adolescents; therefore, an increased suspicion of drug use is warranted in unexplained
congestive heart failure. Although congestive heart failure in adolescents can be related to
structural heart disease (including complications after surgical palliation or repair), it is usually
associated with chronic arrhythmia or acquired heart disease, such as cardiomyopathy.

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/901307-overview

• Various forms of congenital heart disease such as ventricular septal defect (VSD), patent
ductus arteriosus (PDA) or common AV canal.
• Heart valve disease caused by past rheumatic fever or other infections.
• Infections of the heart valves and/or heart muscle (endocarditis).
• Cardiac arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats).
• Cardiomyopathy or another primary disease of the heart muscle.
• Coronary artery disease.
• Kawasaki's disease.
• Inflammation of heart muscle (myocarditis).

http://www.chw.org/display/PPF/DocID/23041/router.asp

Congestive heart failure often occurs in children with congenital (present at birth) heart defects.
Other medical problems that can cause CHF include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Heart valve disease caused by past rheumatic fever or other infections.

• Infections of the heart valves and/or heart muscle (i.e., bacterial endocarditis).
• heart valve malfunctions such as regurgitation (improper valve closure) or stenosis
(narrowed valve opening).
 • Cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeats).
• Cardiomyopathy, or another primary disease of the heart muscle.
• Chronic lung disease.
• Anemia.
• High blood pressure (hypertension).
• Hemorrhage (excessive bleeding).

http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site488/mainpageS488P0.html

The most common cause of congestive heart failure in children is congenital heart disease,
including:
cardiac malformations, such as tetralogy of Fallot
abnormalities of the heart valves
underdevelopment of one or both ventricles
coarctation of the aorta, which is a narrowing of the vessel bringing blood to the heart
ventricular septal defects, or holes in the walls that separate the left and right sides of the
heart
patent ductus arteriosus, or an abnormal connection between the aorta and the pulmonary
artery that mixes oxygenated and unoxygenated blood

Other causes of congestive heart failure in children include:

rheumatic heart disease, caused by damage to the heart from group A strep infections
bacterial endocarditis, or inflammation of the lining of the heart due to an infection
myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle
complications of open heart surgery
chronic anemia, which results in a low red blood cell count
poor nutrition
drug toxicity

http://www.healthopedia.com/congestive-heart-failure-in-children/

1. Causes: Coronary Artery Disease 1. Alcohol

1. Most common cause of 2. Doxorubicin
Systolic Dysfunction 3. Catecholamines
2. Causes: Hypertension 4. Cobalt
1. Major cause of Diastolic 5. Cocaine
Dysfunction 4. Infiltrative Disease
2. Incidence 1. Cardiac Amyloidosis
1. Men: Hypertension 2. Hemochromatosis
Causes 39% of CHF 5. Metabolic disorders
cases 1. Carnitine deficiency
2. Women: Hypertension 2. Thyroid disease
Causes 59% of CHF 3. Diabetes Mellitus
cases
4. Thiamine deficiency
3. Reference
5. Ascorbic acid
1. Grimm (1996) JAMA
deficiency
275(20):1549
6. Tachycardia induced systolic
3. Causes: Valvular Heart Disease
failure
1. Primary Valvular disease
1. Grogan's Syndrome
2. Rheumatic Heart Disease 2. Atrial Fibrillation with
4. Causes: Myocardial Disease
rapid ventricular rate
1. Infectious Myocarditis 7. Idiopathic Dilated
2. Congenital Heart Disease Cardiomyopathy
3. Toxins
 8. Cardiomyopathy of overload 3. Paget's Disease
(High Output failure) 4. Hyperthyroidism
1. Arteriovenous fistula 9. Peripartum cardiomyopathy
2. Severe Anemia

http://www.fpnotebook.com/CV/CHF/HrtFlrCs.htm