Clinical Case of Congestive Cardiac Failure

Clinical case of congestive cardiac failure 1
CLINICAL CASE OF CONGESTIVE CARDIAC FAILURE
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Clinical case of congestive cardiac failure 2
Question 1
Congestive cardiac failure is a severe medical condition caused by inability of the heart to
function efficiently. It arises when the heart is unable to pump blood effectively to the rest of the
body. The heart muscle also called the myocardium is a smooth muscle that is designed to
contract by itself. The left ventricle of the heart is responsible for pumping blood to the rest of
the body parts except the lungs via the aorta. The right side on the other hand is responsible for
pumping blood to the lungs for oxygenation via the pulmonary artery. The most commonly used
term for congestive cardiac failure is heart failure. It is a chronic condition and worsens over
time if not managed. When the heart fails, distal parts of the body including the legs and arms do
not get enough blood supply and this has its consequences (Miller, 2016).
Mrs. McKenzie is an example of a patient suffering from congestive cardiac failure. The
condition has a wide range of manifestations. As the name suggests there is a significant fluid
buildup around the heart and within the chest area. As shown in Mrs. McKenzie’s case, there is
a considerable fluid accumulation in the lungs and swelling of the arms, legs, ankles. The clinical
manifestation of the condition vary depending on the side of the heart that is affected (Harjola et
al, 2017). Both sides of the heart can be affected hence the general term. In cases where there is
left sided heart failure, the fluid accumulation mainly takes place in the lungs thus the
presentation of symptoms related to pulmonary edema. On the other hand if it is a right sided
failure, there is more of fluid accumulation in the legs, ankles and arms. This presentation is
referred to as peripheral edema.
The major causes of congestive cardiac failure are other diseases that affect the heart.
Some of these cardiac related diseases can be severe and fatal hence require immediate attention.
These diseases include myocardial infarction, severe hypertension, coronary artery disease and

Clinical case of congestive cardiac failure 3
other diseases that may affect valves of the heart such as rheumatic fever. These conditions can
be prevented by healthy lifestyles and early detection and management can be beneficial to
prevent development of the disease (Reddy et al, 2016). Hypertension for example is as a result
of raised blood pressure that can be prevented by checking salt levels in the diet. There are
several risk factors that influence development of cardiac failure. These include diabetic
conditions, obesity and thyroid disease. These risk factors can also be prevented by healthy diet
and lifestyles.
The incidence of the disease is influenced by a number of factors. For example, there is
high incidence rate of the disease associated with old age. The occurrence of the disease among
people aged 65 years and above is higher than that of any other age group (Buglioni & Burnett,
2015). On the other hand, there is a low incidence of the disease among people less than 40 years
of age. About three percent of the population aged 40 to 60 years are affected by the disease.
This is in contrast to over five percent of the population above 60 years of age which are affected
by the same disease. The disease has a huge influence to the patient’s health and life as a whole.
The fear of death and job loss is commonly associated with affected persons. The families of the
affected also suffer considerable depression and may be directly affected if the patient was the
bread winner at home.
Question 2
There are a number of symptoms and clinical manifestations related to this condition. The
patient experiences pulmonary edema. This is the accumulation of fluid in the lungs and alveoli.
This directly affects the respiratory functions of the patient. In such a case, the patient presents
with shortness of breath also referred in medical terms as dyspnea. The shortness of breath
considerably worsens with little exertion. The severity of the condition is measured by its