Common Heart Failure Abbreviations

When it comes to healthcare, a lot of abbreviations are thrown our way! I created this cheat sheet to help you understand some of the common abbreviations associated with heart failure.

These are some of the more frequent abbreviations used in this community. Knowing what these refer to can go a long way to helping you better communicate with your healthcare team.

Common abbreviations in the heart failure community

HF: Heart failure

Heart failure is the condition that many people in this community have. Or they may be caregivers for those who have it. It means the heart is weaker than normal and is less effective at pumping blood through the body.^1,2

CHF: Congestive heart failure or chronic heart failure

This is another common acronym we hear in the heart failure community. Here, the "HF" refers to heart failure, while the "C" may refer to either chronic or congestive. Whether you use the term chronic or congestive, this acronym refers to a syndrome of heart failure that is chronic, meaning it’s always there. Thankfully, there are a lot of treatment options your doctor can prescribe to help you manage and control it.^1,2

RV: Right ventricle

This is the chamber of your heart that pumps blood to your lungs, where the blood picks up oxygen.³

LV: Left ventricle

This is the chamber of your heart that pumps freshly oxygenated blood to all the tissues inside your body.³

EF: Ejection fraction

When your heart relaxes, your right and left ventricles fill with blood. When your heart contracts, it squeezes both the right and the left ventricle. This causes blood to travel to all the tissues of your body. EF is a measure of how well your heart does this.³

LVEF: Left ventricular ejection fraction

This is the percentage of blood that leaves your left ventricle each time it contracts (pumps). There are 2 subtypes of heart failure based on LVEF:³

• Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction
• Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction

HFPEF: Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

This is when you have a diagnosis of heart failure or congestive/chronic heart failure but a normal ejection fraction. A normal ejection fraction is 50 percent or better.³

HFREF: Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction

This is when you have a diagnosis of heart failure or congestive/chronic heart failure but a lower-than-normal ejection fraction. Your ejection fraction will be 40 percent or lower.³

MI: Myocardial infarction

This is more commonly known as a heart attack. A heart attack may cause some damage to your heart, resulting in a diagnosis of heart failure. An MI is the most common cause of heart failure.⁴

AF: Atrial fibrillation

This is 1 of the most common types of arrhythmia. Arrhythmia means irregular heartbeat.⁴

CAD: Coronary artery disease

This is the most common type of heart disease. It is caused by plaque buildup in the arteries that supply blood to your heart (coronary arteries). Over time, CAD can cause your arteries to become narrow. This causes your heart to work extra hard to pump blood through your arteries, resulting in a diagnosis of high blood pressure (also called hypertension).⁵

BP: Blood pressure

This is a measurement of how hard your heart has to work to pump blood through your arteries.⁶

HBP: High blood pressure (hypertension)

This is caused by arteries that become abnormally narrow over time. When your arteries narrow, your heart has to work harder to pump blood through them. Along with coronary artery disease, HBP is a common cause of heart failure.⁶

ECG or EKG: Electrocardiogram

This is a test to monitor your heart’s electrical activity. ECG was the first acronym to refer to this test, but it sounded too much like another test called an EEG. To prevent confusion, the acronym EKG was used. However, now that most orders are typed into a computer, some institutions still use ECG to refer to this test.⁵

Did I miss any common heart failure terms in this list? Let me know in the comments below!

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