Heart Failure: Pathophysiology (Nursing)

00:01 Let's take a look at the pathophysiology.

00:03 I know that is your least favorite term.

00:06 But keep in mind, that's where a lot of the information comes from on the NCLEX questions.

00:11 So, right sided heart failure.

00:14 Let's talk about the pathophysiology of that.

00:16 Actually left sided heart failure is the most common cause.

00:20 Now, if a patient also has primary lung disease, like it have pulmonary fibrosis, primary pulmonary hypertension, that could cause right sided heart failure, and that's called cor pulmonale.

00:32 Now, the third one, you might not be familiar with, but it's obstructive sleep apnea that changes the intrathoracic pressures and can cause right sided failure.

00:42 Okay, stop right there. That's a list of three things.

00:45 So, if you want to remember right sided heart failure, one of the causes is left sided heart failure.

00:52 Second cause, higher pressures in the lung; and third, obstructive sleep apnea.

00:59 Now, let's talk about the left sided heart failure, something that's damaged that ventricle, and it could be a myocardial infarction because of myocardial infarction causes dead tissue.

01:10 What about valvular disease? Yeah, your valves are really important.

01:14 They're meant to keep blood flowing in one direction through your heart.

01:17 If they are stiff, they don't close, they've got vegetation grown on them, then blood can back up in other areas.

01:24 So am I, or valvular disease definitely cause an impaired function of your heart.

01:30 Finally, ischemic heart disease.

01:33 That means if your heart tissues had ischemia, You had hits, it's not doing well. It's been damaged.

01:39 So really, left sided failure is what goes after that left ventricle, or the blood flow through the heart due to valvular disease.

01:48 So, when I'm thinking through these, how am I going to remember? Left sided heart failure, tissue damage, myocardial infarction, ischemic heart disease, or valves not working well, due to valvular disease?