Combination Diuretic Therapy for Acute Decompensated Heart Failure

Patients with heart failure are often admitted to the hospital because they have accumulated excessive amounts of fluid, they become short of breath and congested with fluid. Removing the excess fluid is necessary to improve the patients symptoms and reduce the risk of being re-admitted to the hospital. Diuretics ("water pills") are often given through an IV to accelerate the fluid removal. Furosemide is commonly used for fluid removal, however some patients do not respond well to the medication. There are other diuretics available that can work in conjunction with furosemide and increase the rate of fluid removal. The other "water pills" have slightly different mechanisms of action in the body compared to furosemide and when combined they may increase fluid removal. The investigators hypothesize that adding chlorothiazide to furosemide will result in quicker and more effective fluid removal in heart failure patients.