Heart failure refers to the pathophysiologic condition in which the heart, through an aberration of cardiac function, falls short of pumping blood at a tempo that matches the prerequisites of the metabolizing tissues or can only manage that with an bumped up diastolic stodgy pressure. Ailments of the cardiovascular system always present a challenge to nurses and physicians engaged in the daily care of patients (Lind et al., 2021). Understanding cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary processes enable practitioners to ensure appropriate treatment, hence better patient outcomes. The case analysis aims to explain the cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary pathophysiological processes that translate to the patient depicting the underlying symptoms, racial/ethnic variables that may influence physiological operations, and how the processes interrelate to impact the patient.
In this case, various cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary pathophysiological processes are accountable for the patient’s symptoms. The processes include cognitive heart failure that is associated with peripheral edema. Peripheral edema is synonymous with the swelling of the peripheral tissues due to increased weight that leads to pressure on the veins. Cognitive heart failure may be a considerable factor influencing the symptoms since the patient has a record or documentation of cognitive heart failure. Cognitive heart failure is a cardiovascular process that impacts the patient’s symptoms. It makes the heart too weak to pump blood throughout the body as necessary, thus translating to blood assembling in front of the heart (Schwinger, 2021). It leads to amplified blood pressure in the veins resulting in fluids seeping out into adjacent tissues. This causes swelling in the abdomen, as in the case of the patient.
Edema in the lungs is the cardiopulmonary process that leads to the symptoms the patient displays. The condition is acute or severe because it translates to lungs being packed with fluid due to the left side of the heart lacking the capacity to pump blood coming back from the lungs. It leads to blood assembling in blood vessels of the lungs and fluid oozing out into the lungs. This process is responsible for explaining the shortness of breath the patient experiences. Racial valuables may play a significant role in influencing the physiological functioning of a patient. For example, racial healthcare disparities translate to African Americans lacking access to proper care (Triposkiadis et al., 2019). This leads to a high risk of cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary complications among the African American population.
The cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary pathophysiological processes interact to influence the patient’s functionality. If the heart is in poor health or damaged, its ability to pump out adequate blood it gets from the lungs is undermined (Lind et al., 2021). When this materializes, the pressure intensifies or piles up in the heart and shoves fluid into the lungs’ air sacs, where it is not required. After a while, breathing issues will occur, or they may materialize suddenly. On the other hand, if blood is not receiving sufficient oxygen from the lungs, the heart must function harder to pump adequate oxygen all through the body. Overburdening the heart for longer periods will wear it out more swiftly. This explains why multiple heart ailment sufferers encounter lungs problems as the sicknesses advance.
Generally, cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary processes may translate from serene to severe cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary ailments that may be acute or grave to the patient. Nurses and physicians need to have the know-how of symptoms to administer apposite care to the patient to minimize or alleviate the possibility of a grave condition materializing. In the case study scenario, processes involved in edema in the lungs and heart failure are accountable for the patient’s symptoms. These processes can considerably impact the quality of life of the patient. This instills the essence and significance of proper care for the patient.
References
Lind et al. (2021). Impact of Risk Factors for Major Cardiovascular Diseases: A Comparison of Lifetime Observational and Mendelian Randomization Findings. Open Heart, 8(2), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1136/openhrt-2021-001735
Schwinger, G. H. R. (2021). Pathophysiology of Heart Failure. Cardiovascular Diagnosis & Therapy, 11(1), 263-276. https://dx.doi.org/10.21037%2Fcdt-20-302
Triposkiadis et al. (2019). The Continuous Heart Failure Spectrum: Moving beyond an Ejection Fraction Classification. European Heart Journal, 40(26), 2155-2163. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehz158
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