Role of Neurohumoral Control of the Circulation in Determining Exercise Capacity in Patients with Heart Failure

¹ The Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis.

Neurohumoral mechanisms are critical to the acute circulatory response to a variety of physiologic stresses. Heart failure is a unique syndrome in which acutely responding systems are abnormally stimulated and in which normal reflex responsiveness is impaired. Although these neurohumoral abnormalities are prominent accompaniments of the clinical syndrome and may contribute to some of the signs and symptoms of heart failure, there is no persuasive evidence that neurohormonal abnormalities are critical determinants of impaired exercise capacity in heart failure.