insuficience

Insuficience is a term used across languages to describe a state in which the functional capacity of an organ, body system, or process is not sufficient to meet its demands. In English, the more common form is insufficiency; insuficience is a variant spelling found in some Romance-language contexts. The concept covers reduced performance that may be partial or progressive rather than a complete failure.

In medicine, insufficiency is attached to several organs or systems. Cardiac insufficiency (often described as heart failure) refers to the heart's inability to pump blood adequately. Renal or hepatic insufficiency denotes diminished kidney or liver function, respectively. Pulmonary or respiratory insufficiency means inadequate gas exchange. Valvular insufficiency, such as mitral or aortic insufficiency, describes regurgitation at a heart valve. Insufficiency may be acute or chronic, and its management depends on the underlying cause and degree of dysfunction.

Outside medicine, insufficiency is used to describe shortages or inadequacies, such as financial insufficiency, resource insufficiency, or data insufficiency. Causes include disease, aging, injury, malnutrition, or systemic constraints. Diagnosis relies on clinical assessment and laboratory or imaging studies; management aims to restore balance, limit progression, or compensate for impaired function, including lifestyle changes, medications, devices, or transplantation in select cases.

Distinctions: insufficiency implies reduced functional capacity but not complete failure; failure indicates an inability to sustain necessary function, often requiring urgent intervention; deficiency implies a lack of a necessary element, such as vitamins or minerals. See also insufficiency in specific organs and related terms such as failure and deficiency.