Sometimes, there are difficulties in pulmonary circulation, such as pulmonary hypertension or pulmonic stenosis. This results in pulmonary heart disease (cor pulmonale), which ultimately leads to right-sided heart failure.
There may be a revelation of peripheral edema, ascites, and liver enlargement on physical examination. The systemic capillaries get congested if there is a backward failure of the right ventricle. In the body, there is excess fluid accumulation in the body as a result of this. The dependent parts of the body get affected first and there is swelling under the skin. While lying down at night, there may be nocturia (frequent nighttime urination) may occur as fluid from the legs is returned to the bloodstream. Ascites (fluid accumulation in the abdominal cavity causing swelling) and a liver enlargement may develop in progressively severe cases.
Causes
In 20 people, 1 is normally affected by right-sided heart failure. One of the most common causes of right-sided heart failure is coronary artery disease. In the cases of heart failure, the right side of the heart (right ventricle), the left side (left ventricle), or both sides may get affected. There is the loss of pumping ability of the right ventricle in right-sided heart failure. There will be congestion as blood may back up into other areas of the body. There are adverse effects of congestion on the liver, the gastrointestinal tract, and the limbs. There may be less blood supply to the lungs and to the left ventricle because of the inability of the right ventricle in pumping blood efficiently to these parts.
Right-sided heart failure may happen due to different factors such as left-sided heart failure and lung diseases such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema. There are also some other causes including congenital heart disease, clots in pulmonary arteries, pulmonary hypertension, and heart valve disease. Any heart doctor in Kolkata can tell the exact cause in any particular case.
Symptoms
- Shortness of breath
- Swelling of feet and ankles
- Urinating more frequently at night
- Pronounced neck veins
- Palpitations (sensation of feeling the heartbeat)
- Irregular fast heartbeat
- Fatigue
- Weakness
- Fainting
Treatment
Your heart specialist needs to monitor you periodically to prevent heart failure. Controlling the symptoms, reducing the heart’s workload, and improving your heart’s ability to function should be the goals of treatment. The treatment of left-sided heart failure often helps in treating right-sided heart failure is. Changes in lifestyle, medication, valve replacements and procedures like bypass surgery (CABG) and angioplasty may prove helpful.
