Academic Journal
Q1Circulation: Heart Failure
About Circulation: Heart Failure
Circulation: Heart Failure is a scholarly journal published by Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. SCImago 2025 places it in Q1 with an SJR of 2.412 and an H-index of 155.
Its listed coverage is 2008-2026 and its research categories include Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine (Q1); Medicine (miscellaneous) (Q1). The 2025 dataset reports 179 documents and 2508 citations across the latest three-year reporting window.
Circulation is the vital process that ensures blood flow throughout the body, delivering oxygen, nutrients, and removing waste products. The heart, as the central organ of the circulatory system, plays an essential role in maintaining healthy circulation. However, when the heart struggles to pump blood effectively, it can lead to a condition known as heart failure.
What is Heart Failure?
Heart failure is a medical condition where the heart is unable to pump blood efficiently, resulting in insufficient blood flow to meet the body's needs. This can occur when the heart's muscles become weakened or stiff, causing it to lose its ability to contract properly. As a result, vital organs may not receive enough oxygen and nutrients, leading to a range of health issues.
Causes of Heart Failure
Several factors can contribute to heart failure, including:
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Coronary Artery Disease (CAD): The most common cause of heart failure, CAD occurs when the coronary arteries become narrowed or blocked, restricting blood flow to the heart muscle.
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High Blood Pressure (Hypertension): Chronic high blood pressure forces the heart to work harder, eventually weakening the heart muscle over time.
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Heart Attack: Damage caused by a heart attack can impair the heart’s ability to pump effectively, often leading to heart failure.
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Cardiomyopathy: A condition where the heart muscle becomes enlarged, thickened, or rigid, affecting the heart's pumping function.
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Valvular Heart Disease: When the heart valves are damaged, the heart has to work harder to circulate blood, which can lead to heart failure.
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Arrhythmias: Abnormal heart rhythms can cause the heart to beat too fast, too slow, or erratically, leading to inadequate circulation and heart failure.
Symptoms of Heart Failure
The symptoms of heart failure can vary depending on the severity of the condition but often include:
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Shortness of breath: Difficulty breathing, especially during physical activities or while lying down.
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Fatigue: Feeling extremely tired or weak, even after adequate rest.
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Swelling (edema): Fluid buildup in the feet, ankles, legs, or abdomen due to poor circulation.
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Rapid or irregular heartbeat: A sensation of a racing or irregular pulse.
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Coughing or wheezing: Persistent coughing, especially at night, often accompanied by a frothy sputum.
Treatment Options for Heart Failure
Although heart failure is a chronic condition, it can be managed with proper treatment. The goal of treatment is to improve heart function, alleviate symptoms, and enhance the quality of life. Common treatment options include:
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Medications: Diuretics (to reduce fluid retention), ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, and aldosterone antagonists help manage blood pressure, reduce symptoms, and prevent the progression of heart failure.
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Lifestyle Changes: Adopting a heart-healthy lifestyle is crucial for managing heart failure. This includes maintaining a healthy weight, eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, and avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol consumption.
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Surgical Interventions: In severe cases, surgery may be required to repair or replace damaged heart valves, or even a heart transplant may be considered.
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Implantable Devices: Devices like pacemakers or defibrillators may be implanted to regulate heart rhythm and prevent complications.
Preventing Heart Failure
While some risk factors, such as genetics, cannot be controlled, there are several preventive measures to reduce the risk of developing heart failure:
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Manage blood pressure effectively through medication, diet, and exercise.
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Control cholesterol levels to prevent coronary artery disease.
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Quit smoking to improve overall cardiovascular health.
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Maintain a healthy weight to reduce the strain on your heart.
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Regular health checkups to monitor heart health and catch potential issues early.
Journal Metrics
Metrics can change by reporting year. Verify time-sensitive values with the publisher or indexing service.
Aims & Scope
Heart failure (HF) is a chronic condition in which the heart’s ability to pump blood effectively is impaired, leading to a disruption in circulation. The scope of circulation in heart failure plays a crucial role in understanding the disease's progression, management strategies, and outcomes. In this article, we will explore how heart failure affects circulation, the mechanisms behind it, and the impact on overall health.
What is Heart Failure?
Heart failure occurs when the heart is unable to pump blood sufficiently to meet the body's demands. This condition can affect both the left and right sides of the heart. The left side pumps oxygenated blood to the body, while the right side pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs. When either side of the heart fails, it results in a reduced ability to circulate blood, leading to symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, and fluid retention.
How Heart Failure Affects Circulation
In a healthy heart, blood circulates efficiently to deliver oxygen and nutrients to tissues while removing waste products. However, in heart failure, the heart’s reduced pumping capacity disrupts this balance, causing several key circulatory issues:
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Reduced Blood Flow to Organs: When the heart cannot pump effectively, vital organs such as the kidneys, liver, and brain receive less oxygenated blood. This can lead to organ dysfunction, contributing to complications in heart failure patients.
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Fluid Retention: As blood flow decreases, the kidneys may not be able to filter waste efficiently, causing fluid retention in the body. This can lead to swelling (edema) in the legs, abdomen, and lungs (pulmonary edema), exacerbating symptoms.
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Increased Pressure in the Blood Vessels: The heart’s inability to pump blood efficiently can cause blood to back up in the veins, particularly in the lungs and lower extremities. This increases pressure in these blood vessels, leading to congestion and fluid accumulation.
The Mechanisms Behind Impaired Circulation in Heart Failure
Several mechanisms contribute to impaired circulation in heart failure, including:
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Decreased Cardiac Output: The heart’s reduced pumping efficiency leads to a decline in cardiac output—the volume of blood the heart pumps per minute. This limits the circulation of oxygen-rich blood throughout the body.
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Neurohormonal Activation: In response to decreased blood flow, the body activates certain hormonal systems, such as the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) and sympathetic nervous system. These systems attempt to compensate by constricting blood vessels and increasing heart rate, but over time, this can worsen heart failure by increasing the heart's workload.
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Vascular Dysfunction: In heart failure, blood vessels may become less responsive to normal signals, such as those regulating dilation and constriction. This dysfunction further impedes blood flow and contributes to circulatory problems.
Impact of Circulatory Dysfunction in Heart Failure
The impaired circulation in heart failure can lead to a wide range of symptoms and complications, including:
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Fatigue and Weakness: Reduced circulation affects the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to muscles and tissues, leading to fatigue and general weakness.
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Shortness of Breath: Fluid buildup in the lungs (pulmonary edema) can cause difficulty breathing, particularly during physical activity or when lying down.
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Organ Damage: Prolonged reduced circulation can lead to damage in vital organs, contributing to kidney failure, liver damage, or cognitive impairment.
Managing Circulatory Dysfunction in Heart Failure
Effective management of heart failure involves improving circulation and reducing the strain on the heart. Common strategies include:
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Medications: Drugs such as ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, diuretics, and aldosterone antagonists help improve heart function, reduce fluid buildup, and regulate blood pressure.
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Lifestyle Modifications: Maintaining a healthy diet, engaging in regular physical activity, and managing stress can help alleviate symptoms and improve circulation.
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Medical Devices: In some cases, devices such as pacemakers or left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) may be used to support heart function and circulation.
Recent Research Articles
Latest publications matched automatically by ISSN.
When Resistance Is Not Enough: A Multimodal Blueprint for Phenotyping PH-HFpEF
Fadi W. Adel, Lisa M. Mielniczuk
2026-09-02 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.126.014860Optimal Strain Combinations for Prognostic Prediction in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Jiajun Guo, Shuang Leng, Juan He, Lidan Yin et al.
2026-09-02 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.126.014519Care Models for the Genetic Evaluation of Dilated Cardiomyopathy at Sites of the DCM Consortium
Elizabeth Jordan, Tia Moscarello, Hibatallah Khafagy, Patricia K. Parker et al.
2026-09-02 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.126.014544Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure Hospital Participation and Its Association With Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy and Outcomes
Aradhana Verma, Gregg C. Fonarow, Paul Heidenreich, Larry A. Allen et al.
2026-09-02 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.126.014414Left Atrial Remodeling and Functional Maladaptations in Obesity: An Invasive Pressure-Volume Analysis
Luca Monzo, Barry A. Borlaug, Kateřina Kroupová, Martin Beneš et al.
2026-08-31 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.126.014509Healthcare System Resilience and Adaptation: A 6-Year Analysis of Heart Failure Care in the Veterans Affairs System
Nicholas K. Brownell, Moira Inkelas, Lillian Chen, Mei Leng et al.
2026-08-31 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.126.014478Electronic Nudges to Increase Influenza Vaccination Uptake in Young and Middle-Aged Patients with Heart Failure: A Prespecified Analysis of the NUDGE-FLU-CHRONIC Trial
Niklas Dyrby Johansen, Muthiah Vaduganathan, Ankeet S. Bhatt, Daniel Modin et al.
2026-08-29 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.126.014891Plasma Proteins Associated With the Immune Response to Anthracycline Cardiotoxicity in Patients With Hematologic Malignancies
Abraham L. Bayer, Abul Ariza, Monica Urias, Jose Max Narvaez-Paliza et al.
2026-08-27 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.125.013683Stepping Down Without Stepping Back: Financial Implications of Impella 5.5 Management on Cardiovascular Stepdown Units
Anthony P. Carnicelli, Po Lin, Thomas G. Di Salvo, Joyce W. Wald et al.
2026-08-27 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.125.014055Sex Differences in Skeletal Muscle Inflammation and Dysfunction in Patients With Heart Failure and Reduced Ejection Fraction
Andreas Bugge Tinggaard, Jakob Wang, Jean Farup, Mette Bjerre et al.
2026-08-27 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.125.014062Transcriptomic Changes Elicited by Semaglutide in Human Ventricular Tissue Support Cell Survival and Lipid Metabolism
Lilly Underwood, Chun-sun Jiang, Rohail Bhatti, Gessica de Assis Silva et al.
2026-08-27 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.126.014421Multimodal Framework of Left Heart-Pulmonary Vascular Remodeling Underlying Right Ventricular Failure in PH-HFpEF
Farhan Raza, Zachery R. Gregorich, Jack Freeman, Bethany Moore et al.
2026-08-24 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.126.014620Response by Wu et al to Letter Regarding Article, “Exploring Medication Adherence in Heart Failure From a Patient Perspective: A Qualitative Study”
Ingibjorg Gunnthorsdottir, Anna I. Gunnarsdottir, Karl Andersen, Erla Svansdottir et al.
2026-08-21 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.126.014751Letter by Wu et al Regarding Article, “Exploring Medication Adherence in Heart Failure From a Patient Perspective: A Qualitative Study”
Wentao Wu, Gaojun Xu, Xia Gao
2026-08-21 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.126.014681Microcurrent Therapy in Cardiac Repair: Bridging Mechanistic Biology and Clinical Evidence
Jesus Eduardo Rame, Dipthi Bachamanda Somesh, David Lanfear, Marat Fudim et al.
2026-08-19 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.126.014407Combined Post- and Precapillary Pulmonary Hypertension in Patients With Advanced Heart Failure
E. Ashley Hardin, Adi Dewanjee, Parker Davis, Ryan J. Tedford et al.
2026-08-18 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.126.014787Nanoparticles for Targeted Drug Delivery in Heart Failure
Jimmy Zhi En Heng, Zhi Ning Lee, Kian Keong Poh, Dinesh Kumar Srinivasan et al.
2026-08-14 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.125.014109Elevated Endogenous Insulin and Insulin Resistance Are Associated With Progressive Diastolic Dysfunction and Worse Cardiovascular Outcomes
Fadi W. Adel, Benjamin Gochanour, Christopher Scott, Jasraj Singh et al.
2026-08-10 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.126.014410Utility of ECG-Vision for Surveillance of Left Ventricular Dysfunction in Patients With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Initiated on Mavacamten
Aakash Bavishi, John Fritzlen, Marybeth Soutar, Kutaiba Nazif et al.
2026-08-10 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.126.014177Fetal Cardiomyopathy in the Contemporary Era: A Multicenter Fetal Heart Society Research Collaborative Study
Angela McBrien, Astha Burande, Oana Caluseriu, Jennifer Conway et al.
2026-08-07 · DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.126.014394Reviews
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April 21, 2025 at 1:29 pm
April 21, 2025