Heart Failure and Arrhythmias

Heart failure is a clinical entity characterized by a certain combination of symptoms and signs. Although there is neither a definition covering all aspects of it nor any generally accepted criteria for evaluating its severity, it is the endstage of many different heart diseases, in most cases associated with a poor prognosis. Approximately 50% of the patients with advanced heart failure die from pump failure, whereas the other half succumb suddenly and unexpectedly due to ventricular tachyar­