What tests should be performed to diagnose heart failure?
To diagnose heart failure, transthoracic echocardiography should be performed to exclude important valve disease, assess the systolic (and diastolic) function of the (left) ventricle, and detect intracardiac shunts. An ECG and additional tests such as chest X-ray, blood tests, peak flow or spirometry, and urinalysis should also be considered. Alternative methods of imaging the heart, such as radionuclide angiography (multigated acquisition scanning), cardiac MRI, or transoesophageal echocardiography, can be used if a poor image is produced by transthoracic echocardiography. Other disorders that may present in a similar manner should be excluded as well. 