Heart failure??

I am studying Heart failure and I am learning the difference between Left and Right heart failure etc.

My question is...
The compensatory mechanisms
1. sympathetic nervous system stimulation
2. Renin-angiotension system (RAS) activation
3. other neurohumoral responses
4. Myocardial hypertrophy

Is this part of both Left and Right heart failure or is it just right heart failure?

Thanks in advance!!

You will see compensatory mechanisms with Heart Failure overall... regardless of whether it is Left sided or Right sided in Nature...

The major differences you will see is in the Symptoms...

With Left - sided... You will see more Pulmonary related symtpoms such as....
1. Increased pressures in the lungs leading to fluid build up which are evidenced by crackles/rales, and rhonchi heard through auscultation.
2. Shortness of breath, and/or Dyspnea on exertion, or Dyspnea at rest (difficult breathing) due to the fluid build up.
3. Fatigue related to the lack of oxygen pumped to the rest of the body as a result of poor pumping action of the heart combined with fluid in the lungs and poor oxygen exchange.
4. There are others... but I don't want to get too technical on you if you arent in the healthcare field you may not understand...

Right sided hearth failure will exhibit more systemic and vascular symtoms such as:
1. Edema (build up of fluid) in the lower legs, ankles, & feet...
2. Weight gain from fluid retention...
3. Fatigue

Hope this helps! Good Luck,
Nurse Angie, RN

you will find that the left side of the heart will fail first. It does most of the work. it has to pump the blood from the lungs to the rest of the body. now, think of it like this, when a pump isnt working right you will have a backup of what is being pumped. so then the blood will backup into the lungs. Im sure you have heard the "term pink frothy sputem" this is why you will see the pink in a pts sputem. On right sided heart failure you will see edema to the pts legs or extremities... I hope you are a med student or my answer might not make sense. feel free to email me ...