Introduction:

Obesity causes heart failure by different mechanisms that are not limited to traditional mediating factors. This is associated with inflammatory mechanisms, endothelial dysfunction and thrombogenic factors. In secondary prevention, an inverse effect of obesity was observed in the prognosis of patients with chronic HF. This phenomenon is known as the obesity paradox.

Objective:

To update knowledge about obesity and its association with prognosis in relation to mortality in patients with chronic heart failure.

Method:

A non-systematic review of the most significant studies on the subject was carried out, which were published in PUBMED, EBSCO, Scopus, Cochrane and the Cuban Journal of Internal Medicine.

Conclusions:

Obesity offers prognostic information in relation to mortality in patients with chronic heart failure. Patients with obesity and overweight have lower mortality compared to normal weight.