Heart failure (also called congestive heart failure) is one of the most common complications a person can suffer following a heart attack.

It occurs when the heart becomes weakened and unable to pump enough blood to the body. This causes the heart to overwork, resulting in it becoming even weaker over time.

The most common symptoms of heart failure include:

• Shortness of breath and difficulty breathing with even mild exertion or while asleep

• Profound fatigue

• Persistent cough or wheezing

• Rapid weight gain and/or body swelling, usually in the legs and ankles

• Rapid heartbeat or palpitations

• Lack of appetite and nausea

• Angina (chest pain)

There are many ways to diagnose heart failure, but most important is the echocardiogram, a noninvasive test that uses waves to create a moving image of your heart.

The echocardiogram also provides a measure of your ejection fraction, which represents how strong your heart is pumping. A normal ejection fraction is 55 percent to 65 percent.