Left-sided heart failure: which finding would you assess for?

Left-sided heart failure: which finding would you assess for?

• A. Pitting edema
• B. Lung crackles
• C. Jugular venous distension
• D. Hepatomegaly

Answer: (B)

Left-sided heart failure causes pressure to back up into the lungs, leading to pulmonary congestion. The signal you’d assess for is lung crackles from fluid in the alveoli and interstitium, reflecting this pulmonary edema. Pitting edema, jugular venous distension, and hepatomegaly are more characteristic of right-sided congestion or biventricular failure, where the systemic venous circulation is affected. So crackles in the lungs best reflect left-sided dysfunction.

Left-sided heart failure causes pressure to back up into the lungs, leading to pulmonary congestion. The signal you’d assess for is lung crackles from fluid in the alveoli and interstitium, reflecting this pulmonary edema. Pitting edema, jugular venous distension, and hepatomegaly are more characteristic of right-sided congestion or biventricular failure, where the systemic venous circulation is affected. So crackles in the lungs best reflect left-sided dysfunction.