oa Central African Journal of Medicine - Congestive heart failure and acites in the African

Abstract

I. Ascites and congestive heart failure commonly occur together in the African. 2. It is seen equally in all forms of heart failure. 3. The ascites generally responds well, as do the other signs, to the appropriate treatment of congestive heart failure. 4. The prognosis of heart failure in which ascites is a feature depends on the state of the myocardium, but if the liver is already cirrhotic or when the function of the heart is greatly impaired, the ascites also remains indefinitely. 5. The ascites may appear as an early feature of the heart failure and does not necessarily indicate a later stage of heart failure. 6. A study of liver function, the serum protein and their fractions failed to incriminate the liver as being an invariable cause for the ascites.