Organ‐Specific Responses to Circulatory Disturbances in Heart Failure: New Insights

Recent studies have provided new insights into the pathophysiology of congestive heart failure. Organ‐specific responses to circulatory disturbances may differ via a hypoperfusion state and a venous congestion state. The liver and the kidneys serve as a good example of a differential injury pattern based on the predominant circulatory insult. Cardiorenal syndrome appears to be a kidney‐specific response to predominantly right‐sided backward heart failure (“congestive state”), rather than forward heart failure. Despite significant progress in our understanding of cardiorenal interactions, there is no specific therapy for the cardiorenal syndrome, which is a marker of the severity of the heart failure state. ©2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.