What does "Class 2 heart failure" mean?

Heart failure refers to the condition in which the heart's pumping function is impaired. Class 2 heart failure typically indicates a classification of disease severity in patients with heart failure, where individuals have no symptoms at rest but may experience chest tightness and shortness of breath after physical activity, which quickly resolves upon resting. The details are as follows:

Heart failure is a syndrome caused by various structural or functional cardiac diseases that impair ventricular filling and ejection function, mainly manifesting as dyspnea, limited exercise capacity, and edema. Heart failure is generally divided into four classes: Class 1 refers to patients with coronary atherosclerotic heart disease who do not have significant limitations in physical activity and do not develop symptoms such as chest tightness or shortness of breath after exercise; Class 2 indicates mild heart failure—patients are asymptomatic at rest but may develop chest tightness and shortness of breath with activity, which rapidly improves with rest; Class 3 represents moderate heart failure, where patients remain symptom-free at rest but may experience obvious chest tightness and shortness of breath during physical activity, requiring prolonged rest for symptom relief; Class 4 refers to severe heart failure, where patients are unable to perform any physical activity without discomfort and may even exhibit signs of heart failure at rest, with symptoms markedly worsening upon exertion.

Patients should follow medical advice and may be prescribed medications such as metoprolol succinate extended-release tablets or sacubitril/valsartan sodium tablets for treatment. Adequate rest is recommended, and excessive fatigue should be avoided.