Excellent article:
Heart Failure: The Physiologic Basic for Current Therapeutic Concepts
To understand the contemporary management of acute heart failure, it is essential to understand not only the functions of the normal heart but also what happens to the heart and to the body as a whole when the heart begins (and continues) to fail. This article reviews the physiological aspects of normal cardiac function and the pathophysiological aspects of heart failure, with an eye toward promoting greater understanding of this condition.
http://www.aacn.org/aacn/jrnlccn.nsf...f?OpenDocument