Congestive Cardiac Failure: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

Congestive cardiac failure 1
CONGESTIVE CARDIAC FAILURE CASE STUDY
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Question 1
Congestive cardiac failure is a condition whereby the heart muscles cannot efficiently
pump blood to the rest of the body. It is a chronic progressing condition that worsens with time if
not managed. A normal heart muscle has the ability and power to pump blood efficiently to the
rest of the body and lungs. Congestive heart failure therefore affects the pumping power of the
heart. As the name suggests, the condition is indicated by buildup of fluids around the heart that
makes it inefficient. Because the heart cannot pump enough blood volume to the rest of the body,
fluid also starts building up in the lungs, arms, legs, ankles and other organs and the body
becomes congested hence the term congestive cardiac failure (Kearns et al, 2017). The disease
depending on manifestation can be divided into left sided congestive cardiac failure or right
sided congestive cardiac failure if the right side of the heart is the one affected.
The main causes of the disease are other cardiac related diseases that affect the heart and
eventually lead to its failure (Hernandez & Huang, 2019). These diseases include severe
hypertension, coronary artery disease and valve conditions. Hypertension is a common cause and
results mainly from narrowing of arteries which makes blood difficult to flow. Coronary artery
disease affects the coronary arteries of the heart. The risk factors that influence the development
of the disease include diabetes, thyroid disease and obesity. According to Cobb (2016, April),
these risk factors can be prevented by healthy lifestyles hence avoiding the occurrence of the
disease. There are various stages of congestive cardiac failure that indicate the worsening of the
condition. These stages range from stage 1 where the individual does not experience any
symptoms on exertion to stage 4 where the individual affected shows symptoms even at rest.
According to statistics, the incidence rate of congestive cardiac failure increases with old
age and the disease is bound to affect mainly people above 65 years of age. About two percent of

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persons aged 40 to 59 have the disease as opposed to 5 percent incidence of the disease in people
aged 60 to 69 years. The disease is bound to have a huge impact on the patient and the family of
the patient affected. There is a considerable amount of depression that is associated with patients
affected (McLean & Campbell, 2018). This can be explained by the experience that the patients
undergo as relates to the disease and the fear of death. The patient’s physical activity is limited as
the symptoms exacerbate with the least activity. The patient is therefore at bed rest at most of the
time and this has repercussions such as loss of job employment. The family is also affected by
the patient’s situation as the patient might be the bread winner and therefore loss of employment
by this patient affects them.
Question 2
There are various common signs and symptoms of congestive cardiac failure. One of the
signs is that the patient presents with shortness of breath. This symptom worsens with
exertion and is mainly as a result of pulmonary edema. Pulmonary edema is the accumulation of
fluid in the lungs and is a classical sign of congestive cardiac failure. The pulmonary edema is
mainly caused by left sided cardiac failure. Failure of the left side of the heart to pump blood
causes blood to back up into the lungs (Gambardella et al, 2016). The common respiratory
symptoms are as a result of this pathophysiology. The shortness of breath might also be due to
limited blood oxygenation. The normal body response to low oxygen supply is increased rate of
breathing and breathing work rate. The shortness of breath also referred to as dyspnea worsens
with the least physical activity and in severe cases of congestive cardiac failure presents even at
rest. There is increased breathlessness on lying down flat (orthopnea) and the severity of the
condition can be measured by propping the patient up using pillows.