descompensado

Descompensado is the adjective used in Portuguese to describe the loss of stability or compensation in a bodily system, resulting in a deterioration of a condition that had previously been managed or controlled. The term comes from the verb descompensar, with descompensação as the corresponding noun in clinical contexts.

In medicine, descompensation refers to the acute deterioration of a chronic condition when the body's compensatory mechanisms fail to maintain homeostasis. The most common example is descompensação cardíaca, or decompensated heart failure, which can present with rapid weight gain, edema, dyspnea, orthopnea, and pulmonary edema. Descompensation often requires urgent evaluation and, in many cases, hospitalization. Treatment aims to identify and correct precipitating factors, optimize pharmacologic therapy (for example, diuretics, vasodilators, inotropes as indicated), and provide supportive care and monitoring.

In psychiatry, descompensation denotes relapse or worsening of psychiatric symptoms due to stressors, medication nonadherence, or comorbidity. It may manifest as a new or intensified psychotic, manic, or depressive episode, depending on the underlying disorder, and often leads to adjustments in medication and increased psychosocial support.

Other medical contexts use the term to indicate failure of compensatory responses in metabolic, hepatic, or renal diseases, among others. Across disciplines, descompensation signals a tipping point from a compensated to an decompensated state, with implications for prognosis and the urgency of intervention.

See also: descompensação, decompensation, compensated heart failure, heart failure management, psychiatry decompensation.