How long can someone live with congestive heart failure. He has an enlarged heart twice the normal size a defibrillator and prescribed warafrin after ekg 1mth ago and still smokes and drinks.?

Persons with CHF can have a normal life span. An echocardiogram which is a simple non-invasive test can diagnose the severity of the CHF by examining the chambers of the heart and the overall strength of the heart muscle. Cardiomyopathy with enlarged heart times 2 is pretty serious. Smoking and drinking severely weakens the heart in general, and life expectancy depends on amount consumed/ smoked. warfarin is prescribed for dysrythmia for prevention of clot formation, but a person should not be drinking on it as it thins the blood and can cause complications such as hemmorhagic stroke, or internal bleeding elsewhere in the body. A defibrillator is only effective in life threatening dysrythmia and will not prevent further heart failure. By my best estimate as a past cardiac nurse, I'd say the person has 2 years maximum, sooner if the person is decompensated and requires frequent hospitalizations for excacerbations of symptoms ( severe swelling in ankles and feet, sudden weight gain, shortness of breath especially when lying down, anxiety++).