ARRT Patient Care Practice Exam

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The inability of the heart to pump blood effectively is known as:

Heart failure
Cardiac arrest
Myocardial infarction
Arrhythmia

The correct answer is: Heart failure

Heart failure is characterized by the heart's inability to effectively pump blood throughout the body, leading to insufficient blood supply to meet the body's needs. It can result from various underlying conditions such as coronary artery disease, hypertension, or previous heart attacks that weaken the heart muscle. In the context of the other options, cardiac arrest refers to the sudden loss of heart function, which is an acute medical emergency, rather than a chronic condition like heart failure. Myocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack, happens when blood flow to the heart is blocked, causing damage to the heart muscle, but it is a specific event, not a condition of chronic failure to pump blood effectively. Arrhythmia indicates irregular heartbeats, which can affect the pumping efficiency but does not specifically denote the overall failure of the heart's pumping function. Understanding these distinctions emphasizes why heart failure is the most accurate and relevant term for the scenario described.