If You Pass This Medical Terminology Quiz, You’re Probably A Doctor

What does “congestive” refer to in congestive heart failure?

Retry Correct Incorrect When a heart is too weak to pump blood, the stores of blood in the body back up and concentrate until unwanted fluid passes through the body’s capillary walls. That fluid is what defines congestive heart failure, and it can build in the ankles, feet, arms, and even lungs.

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J. B. Spector/Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago/Getty Images

J. B. Spector/Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago/Getty Images

What does “congestive” refer to in congestive heart failure?

• The fact that a heart condition has been present since birth
• The fluid that builds up throughout the body when the heart fails
• The fact that arterial clogging is responsible for the heart failure
• A condition in which so much mucus builds up in a body that it affects the heart