Left-sided heart failure

Alternative names:

congestive heart failure - left

Definition:

A disorder in which the left side of the heart loses its ability to pump blood efficiently, thereby failing to meet the demands of the body.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Heart failure may affect the right side, left side, or both sides of the heart. The left side of the heart receives oxygenated blood from the lungs and pumps it to the body. As pumping action is lost in the left side of the heart, blood may back up into the lungs (eventually causing right sided heart failure) and blood flow to the body may be insufficient.

Structural or functional causes of heart failure include high blood pressure (hypertension), heart valve disease, congenital heart diseases, cardiomyopathy, heart tumor, and other heart diseases. When a person is predisposed to heart failure, then anything that increases stress to the heart may result in acute symptoms.

In children, congenital malformation of the heart or its valves (congenital heart disease) is the most common cause of left-sided heart failure. Vascular malformations (abnormalities of the blood vessels) are also common causes of heart failure in children.

Precipitating factors include: elevation of blood pressure; increased activity; increased fluids; increased salt intake; high fever or complicated infections; anemia, irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias); hyperthyroidism; kidney disease; medications that affect contraction of the heart muscle (such as beta blockers or calcium channel blockers), and stopping "treatment" medications (such as ACE inhibitors, digoxin, diuretics).

Other risk factors include smoking, obesity, excess alcohol consumption, and eating a diet high in fat and salt.

Left-sided heart failure occurs in approximately 5 out of 100 (1 out of 20) people and becomes more prevalent with advancing age.