Right heart failure, how is it different from left heart failure?

Heart failure is a heart health problem that causes the heart to not function properly. This condition is divided into three types, namely left heart failure consisting of systolic and diastolic heart failure, right heart failure, and congestive heart failure. If you have often heard about left heart failure, what about right heart failure? Check out a complete explanation of one of the following types of heart failure.

Right heart failure, a type of heart failure that is rarely known

Not many know that heart failure can occur not only on the left, but also on the right. Yes, according to the American Heart Association (AHA), heart failure is divided into three types, and one of them is right-sided heart failure.

The AHA explains that the heart pumps dirty blood, which is blood that has been used by the body, to return to the heart through blood vessels to the right atrium to the right ventricle.

When the blood is in the right ventricle, dirty blood is pumped out of the heart to the lungs to be cleaned with oxygen. Only after that, the clean blood is ready to return to the heart to be pumped back throughout the body.

Right heart failure usually occurs because the patient has left heart failure. When the left heart fails, fluid pressure occurs which causes fluid to return to the lungs. This results in damage to the right ventricle of the heart.

When the right ventricle of the heart loses its ability to pump blood, blood returns to the blood vessels throughout the body. This causes swelling in several parts of the body. For example in the feet, ankles, to the liver and digestive tract.

Symptoms that may appear when right heart failure

Symptoms of heart failure also vary, ranging from symptoms that are mediocre to symptoms that are classified as severe. Here are some of the symptoms of right heart failure that may appear:

Woke up in the middle of the night with shortness of breath.
Shortness of breath while exercising or when you are lying down.
Cough.
Wheezing.
The head feels dizzy.
The body feels weak.
Fluid retention that causes swelling of the feet, ankles, or abdomen.
The feeling of wanting to urinate is increasing.
Decreased appetite and often feel nauseous.
The body is unable to exercise.
Sudden weight gain.

Even so, there are also symptoms that are already classified as severe, such as:

Suddenly feeling short of breath when chest aches.
Abnormal heart rate.
Fainting
Coughing up white or pink ripples when you experience shortness of breath.
The chest hurts, but this symptom will only appear if the heart failure is caused by a heart attack.

If you experience any of the symptoms that have been mentioned, you should not do it self-diagnosis or guessing the conditions that are being experienced. Better to immediately check heart health conditions to a doctor to get further treatment.

Right heart failure cause

Here are some of the causes of heart failure in the right ventricle that need to be known:

1. Left heart failure

As mentioned earlier, right-sided heart failure may occur because the patient previously had left heart failure. Left heart failure is a condition in which the left ventricle can't pump blood properly as usual.

This condition causes continuous pressure on the left ventricle of the heart. If not treated immediately, this condition eventually causes heart failure. The non-pumpable blood in the left ventricle returns to the left atrium, to the lungs, and back to the right ventricle. However, because the right ventricle also cannot accommodate, dirty blood returns to the liver and other organs.

2. Chronic lung disease

There are several lung health problems that can be a heart health problem on this one. These include emphysema, pulmonary embolism, and various other causes of pulmonary hypertension. This is because the blood pressure in the arteries in the lungs increases the work of the left ventricle of the heart.

If left untreated, over time, this condition can cause damage to the right ventricle of the heart. Therefore, several types of lung disease that are classified as chronic can cause this type of heart failure.

3. Coronary heart disease

Another cause of right-sided heart failure is coronary heart disease (CHD). The blockage that occurs in the arteries blocks blood flow to the heart. This disease is the cause of left heart failure which over time causes right heart failure.

However, CHD can also directly cause this condition if a blockage occurs in the blood flow to the right ventricle.

4. Lung stenosis

Narrowing of the heart valve to the lungs causes limited blood flow to the right ventricle. This certainly increases the workload of the right ventricle. So it is quite similar to chronic lung disease which can cause these heart health problems.

5. Stiffness of the pericardium (pericardial constriction)

The pericardium is one of the membranes that surrounds or encloses the heart. If there is repeated inflammation of the pericardium, this condition causes stiffness and thickening, thus preventing the heart from expanding normally while pumping blood. This condition can also be one of the causes of heart failure.

Risk factors for right heart failure

Apart from the causes, you also need to know what risk factors you have from right heart failure. Among others are:

Age. Men aged 50-70 years experience heart health problems more often if they have previously had a heart attack.
Damage to the structures of the heart that can prevent normal blood circulation from the heart.
Chronic diseases, such as pulmonary fibrosis, diabetes, HIV, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, and iron or protein buildup.
Abnormal heartbeat.
Left heart failure.
Lung health problems.
Have had a heart attack.
Diabetes treatment and chemotherapy.
Viral infection that can damage the heart muscle.

Treatment and prevention of right heart failure

Although the damage to the heart cannot be reversed, at least the patient can still undergo treatment and preventive measures against heart failure.

Right heart failure treatment

Basically, treatment for heart failure is done in order to suppress the symptoms that appear and address the causes of heart failure. Usually, the treatment used to treat heart failure is relatively the same, for both right and left heart failure.

Treatment of heart failure involves using heart failure medications, installing medical devices, or surgical procedures. The use of heart failure medications primarily improves heart function and treats symptoms of heart health problems such as abnormal heartbeats, high blood pressure, and increased fluids.

In addition, the treatment of heart problems is also useful for reducing fluid retention. This treatment is also useful for opening narrowed blood vessels to increase blood flow to the heart.

Not only that, heart failure treatment also functions to prevent blood clots and lower cholesterol in the blood. Usually, the surgical procedure performed by doctors to treat this type of heart failure is a fitting ventricular assist device and heart transplants.