Left-Sided Heart Failure vs Right-Sided Heart Failure Pathophysiology Nursing NCLEX Review

RegisteredNurseRN2 minutes read

Left-sided versus right-sided heart failure has distinct symptoms and causes, with right-sided failure leading to venous congestion and left-sided failure causing pulmonary congestion. Each type of heart failure presents unique signs such as swelling and weight gain for right-sided, and difficulty breathing and increased heart rate for left-sided.

Insights

  • Right-sided heart failure often originates from left-sided heart failure, causing a cascade of symptoms like venous congestion, hepatomegaly, and leg swelling due to the overworked right heart side.
  • Left-sided heart failure leads to pulmonary congestion, with systolic dysfunction showing low ejection fraction and diastolic dysfunction causing ventricle stiffness, resulting in symptoms such as difficulty breathing, orthopnea, and weight gain monitoring.

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Recent questions

  • What are the signs of right-sided heart failure?

    Symptoms of right-sided heart failure include venous congestion, hepatomegaly, jugular venous distention, leg swelling, and ascites.

  • What causes left-sided heart failure?

    Left-sided heart failure can result from systolic or diastolic dysfunction.

  • How does right-sided heart failure differ from left-sided heart failure?

    Right-sided heart failure leads to venous congestion, while left-sided heart failure causes pulmonary congestion.

  • What are the common symptoms of left-sided heart failure?

    Symptoms of left-sided heart failure include difficulty breathing, crackles, orthopnea, weakness, nocturnal dyspnea, increased heart rate, nagging cough, and weight gain monitoring.

  • How does right-sided heart failure develop?

    Right-sided heart failure often stems from left-sided heart failure, leading to an overworked right heart side.

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Summary

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Heart Failure: Left vs Right Side Explained

  • Left-sided versus right-sided heart failure explained by visualizing heart anatomy and circulation connections.
  • Right-sided heart failure results in venous congestion, hepatomegaly, jugular venous distention, leg swelling, and ascites.
  • Right-sided heart failure often stems from left-sided heart failure, leading to overworked right heart side.
  • Signs and symptoms of right-sided heart failure include swelling, weight gain, pitting edema, jugular venous distention, lethargy, irregular heartbeat, nausea, and increased abdominal girth.
  • Left-sided heart failure causes pulmonary congestion, categorized as systolic (reduced ejection fraction) or diastolic (preserved ejection fraction).
  • Systolic dysfunction involves low ejection fraction, while diastolic dysfunction results from stiff ventricle impeding blood filling.
  • Signs and symptoms of left-sided heart failure include difficulty breathing, crackles, orthopnea, weakness, nocturnal dyspnea, increased heart rate, nagging cough, and weight gain monitoring.
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