Right-sided heart failure

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Heart, section through the middle

Right-sided heart failure

Alternative Names:

Congestive heart failure - right-sided
Treatment:

Heart failure requires periodic monitoring by your health care provider. The goals of treatment include controlling the symptoms, reducing the workload of the heart, and improving your heart's ability to function. Any underlying disorders and causes should be treated, if possible.

The most common therapy for right-sided heart failure is treating left-sided heart failure.

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Valve replacements and procedures like bypass surgery (CABG) and angioplasty are the solution for some people.

LIFESTYLE

Generally, you must reduce the salt in your food and how much fluids you drink. You should also consider losing weight if you are overweight, stop smoking, and avoid drinking too much alcohol.

MEDICATION

Diuretic drugs (water pills) can help reduce fluid accumulation. Furosemide or bumetanide can help moderate to severe symptoms. Hydrochlorothiaze, chlorthalidone, and chlorothiazideor may be used for mild symptoms. Another drug, spironolactone, can prevent salt retention and help patients with severe heart failure.

Medications that reduce your heart's workload include ACE inhibitors, ARBs, and drugs such as hydralazine and long-acting nitrates. They can prolong the life of very sick patients with failing hearts.

Beta-blockers (such as metopropol or carvedilol) can help prevent death in some heart failure patients.

Digitalis may be prescribed to increase the muscle contraction of the heart and help prevent hospitalization.

IMPLANTED DEVICES

Some patients with ECG abnormalities may benefit from a special kind of pacemaker, called a biventricular pacemaker. This helps both ventricles contract together (CRT, cardiac resynchronization therapy). A defibrillation device such as an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) helps some patients. CRT and ICD may be combined and implanted in a single device (biventricular pacemaker-ICD).

TRANSPLANTS

Severe heart failure that doesn't respond to these therapies may require a heart transplant.

Expectations (prognosis):

Heart failure is a serious disorder. The heart's pumping problems must be kept from getting worse, as much as possible.

There is no cure, but many forms of heart failure can be controlled with medication, addressing the underlying disorders, and implanted devices with defibrillation capabilities.

Complications: