Heart failure, also called congestive heart failure, is a
condition in which the heart cannot pump enough oxygenated blood
to meet the needs of the body's other organs. The heart keeps
pumping, but not as efficiently as a healthy heart. Usually, the
heart's diminished capacity to pump reflects a progressive,
underlying condition. Heart failure often occurs in children
with congenital (present at birth) heart defects. Other medical
problems that can cause heart failure include, but are not
limited to, the following: - Systemic right ventricle that is
unable to meet the body's metabolic demands. (The delicate right
ventricle serves as the only pumping chamber of the heart or the
right and left ventricles are transposed so that the right
ventricle pumps blood out to the body rather than to the lungs
as it normally would.) - Inefficient pumping of the ventricles
due to enlargement of the heart and/or too much volume in the
circulatory system - Heart valve disease caused by past
rheumatic fever or other infections