Congestive Heart Failure
Scientific Basis Congestive Heart Failure is a disease in which the heart is unable to properly keep up with the amount of blood being sent to the heart. The heart muscle itself, in the case of heart failure, is unable to sufficiently pump the blood away from the heart and to the body to keep up with the incoming deoxygenated flow. This failure to pump blood can build up pressure and cause additional pumping resistance. The decreased cardiac output of heart failure causes the circulation to become backed up, and this is where the term “congested” comes into description. In respect to recognizing this condition in a physical assessment, some signs detected are from pulmonary congestion and an increased presence of blood retained in the pulmonary vessels. Air sacs that are dependent may become deflated, the pulmonary capillaries may become engorged, and the bronchial mucosa can experience edema. Upon inspection, the presence of Congestive Heart Failure will procure signs of an increase in resting respiratory rate, shortness of breath on exertion, orthopnea, paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, nocturia, edema of the ankles and legs, ascites of the abdomen, and unusual pallor in fair skinned individuals. Through the method of palpation, signs of heart failure include moist, clammy skin, yet the tactile fremitus tends to be normal. Percussion in the physical assessment will produce a resonant sound upon striking. Auscultation of the thorax and lungs with the presence of heart failure will present a normal vesicular sound over the lungs, and a third galloping heart sound. Adventitious lung sounds upon assessment may include crackling at the lung bases from the deflated alveoli. (Jarvis 2011).
Other abnormal findings in the physical assessment of a patient suffering from Congestive Heart Failure may include anxiety from the inability to breathe easily with pulmonary congestion, and hypoxia of the systemic blood circulation which can lead to confusion when the brain
Other abnormal findings in the physical assessment of a patient suffering from Congestive Heart Failure may include anxiety from the inability to breathe easily with pulmonary congestion, and hypoxia of the systemic blood circulation which can lead to confusion when the brain
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