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A Case Report of Acute Heart Failure Caused by a Patient Delaying Taking his Diuretic Medication
Author(s) -
Chapman PJ
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
australian dental journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.701
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1834-7819
pISSN - 0045-0421
DOI - 10.1111/j.1834-7819.2002.tb00306.x
Subject(s) - diuretic , medicine , heart failure , myocardial infarction , loop diuretic , cardiology , stenosis , complication
Acute heart failure is a life‐threatening medical emergency, most commonly occurring as an immediate or delayed complication of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), or resulting from severe hypertension or valvular defects (stenosis or incompetence). Occasionally it is caused by patients' non‐compliance with medication orders. In this case the patient had a history of three previous AMIs, controlled hypertension, and controlled congestive heart failure (CHF) for which he took two 40mg frusemide tablets (a very potent oral diuretic) each morning. Because he had experienced bladder discomfort during the latter stages of previous appointments he decided to delay taking the diuretic until after his appointment and acute heart failure ensued.