The Mayo Clinic defines congestive heart failure as a condition in which the heart isn't pumping enough blood through the body to meet the body's need for oxygen and nutrition. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that well over 25 million adults in the United States suffer from some form of heart disease, and heart failure is one type. The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association classifies heart failure by stages A through D.
Stage A
"A" is the earliest stage of heart failure and doesn't have any symptoms. Patients are said to have stage A if they have one or more conditions that are strongly associated with heart failure, and places the person at a high risk of developing heart failure. These other associated conditions include high blood pressure, coronary artery disease and diabetes. The person with stage A heart failure, however, does not have any structural damage to the heart and has not experienced any symptoms of heart failure.
Stage B
A person's heart failure classification moves from from stage A to stage B when medical tests show that the heart is physically damaged. However, a person who has stage B heart failure still doesn't experience any of the symptoms of heart failure. Examples of structural damage to the heart include: alterations in the structure of the valves that let blood into or push blood out of the heart; previous myocardial infarction (heart attack); and fibrosis (scarring) of the ventricle (the main chambers of the heart).
Stage C
People with stage C heart failure have the structural heart damage of stage B but have started developing symptoms associated with heart failure: shortness of breath, fatigue and inability to exercise normally.
Stage D
Heart failure is defined as progressing to stage D when the heart has the structural heart damage of B and C but the person's symptoms have become markedly worse despite medical intervention and affect the person even at rest. People with stage D heart failure are frequently hospitalized, and may receive in-home or hospice care to manage their care. Stage D heart failure patients may also have surgery and/or receive a heart transplant as part of treatment.
