What is Heart Failure?

Heart failure (formerly called congestive heart failure) is a condition when your heart does not pump as strongly as it should. And when your heart doesn’t pump strongly enough, your body doesn’t get the right amount of blood and oxygen it needs to work properly. Blood that should be pumped out of your heart can cause fluid to backup (swelling or edema) into other organs or tissues, such as your lungs, stomach, liver, intestines or legs (which explains the term congestive heart failure).