6th May 2025

Framingham Heart Failure Diagnostic Criteria

The key symptoms of congestive heart failure can be summarised with the Framingham Criteria. A diagnosis of heart failure can be made with 2+ major criteria, or with 1 major and 2 minor criteria.

Major Criteria	Minor Criteria
Acute pulmonary oedema Cardiomegaly Hepatojugular reflux Neck vein distension Paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnoea or orthopnoea Pulmonary rales Third heart sound Weight loss >4.5kg in 5 days response to treatment)	Ankle oedema Dyspnoea on exertion Hepatomegaly Nocturnal cough Pleural effusion Tachycardia (HR>120)

Table 4: Major and minor criteria of the Framingham heart failure diagnostic criteria

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