Early abnormalities of cerebral blood flow in mild non-ischaemic heart failure: part of a whole-body response?

This article refers to ‘Dynamics of cerebral blood flow in patients with mild non-ischaemic heart failure’, byC.D. Erkelens et al., published in this issue on pages 261–268.Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a syndrome consisting of alterations of cardiac function associated with an array of abnormalities of haemodynamic, neuroendocrine, autonomic, and vascular function and frequently co-existing with abnormalities with other major organ systems.1 It is common in the elderly and its risk factors are frequently the risk factors for other organ pathologies, including the kidneys, liver, lungs, and brain. For both these reasons, and because of the compensatory changes in the body in response to early cardiac dysfunction, clinically evident co-morbidities are common and are frequently clinically important in CHF.2 –4