Question

A middle-aged woman is admitted to the coronary care unit with a diagnosis of left ventricular failure resulting from a myocardial infarction. Her history indicated that she was aroused in the middle of the night by severe chest pain. Her skin is pale and cold, and moist sounds are heard over the lower regions of both lungs. Explain how failure of the left ventricle can cause these signs and symptoms.

Answer 1

Answer:

1. The oxygen deprived cardiac muscles caused chest pain.

2. Unavailability of oxygen and blood supply to skin cells made them pale and cold.

3. Accumulation of blood in pulmonary circuit caused moist sounds.

Explanation:

The left ventricle receives oxygenated blood from the left atrium. Oxygenated blood from the lungs is carried to the left atrium by pulmonary veins. The left ventricle pumps the oxygenated blood to all body parts through the aorta. Failure of the left ventricle deprived the skin cells of oxygenated blood. Oxygen deficiency stopped energy production by cellular respiration. The result was pale and cold skin.

Failure of the left ventricle led to the accumulation of blood in the pulmonary circuit since the blood was not delivered to body tissues. The build-up of blood and resultant higher blood pressure caused moist sounds in the lower lungs.  

The blockage of the coronary artery by a blood clot and death of a part of the heart due to lack of oxygen leads to a heart attack. The dead heart tissue is known as infarct and the resultant heart attack is myocardial infarction. Chest pain is caused due to the dead heart tissue or infarct.