CHF stands for Congestive Heart Failure. It is a life-threatening heart condition that affects more than 6 million people annually. The main reason for this condition is the weakness or damage of the heart, where the heart cannot pump blood efficiently to the body.
Key Takeaways
- Left-sided congestive heart failure primarily affects the left ventricle and impairs the heart’s ability to pump oxygen-rich blood to the body.
- Right-sided congestive heart failure affects the right ventricle, compromising the heart’s capacity to pump oxygen-poor blood to the lungs.
- Symptoms of left-sided CHF include shortness of breath and fatigue, whereas right-sided CHF symptoms include swelling in the abdomen, legs, and feet.
CHF Left vs CHF Right
The difference between CHF Left and CHF Right is that in CHF Left, fluid gets built up in the back of the lungs, causing congestion of the lungs. In CHF Right, the body begins to retain fluid in the abdomen and lower parts, such as the legs and feet, resulting in swelling.
CHF Left is a heart condition occurring due to weakness or damage to the heart. In this case, the heart is not able to pump blood efficiently and thus, the functioning of the Kidneys is hampered. Thus, the kidneys cannot filter out fluids, causing fluid build-up in the back of the lungs.
CHF Right is a type of CHF occurring due to weakness or damage to the heart. In CHF Right, the right ventricle is unable to deliver blood properly to the rest of the body. This leads to the retention of fluid in the abdomen and lower parts of the body, as the body is not able to filter out fluids.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | CHF Left | CHF Right |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | CHF Left is a heart condition in which the left ventricle is not able to deliver blood to the organs such as the kidney | CHF Right is a type of CHF in which the right ventricle is unable to deliver blood to the body |
| Symptoms | Restlessness, fatigue, weakness, cyanosis, orthopnea | Abdominal bloating, anorexia, swelling of legs and feet, nausea |
| Causes | Pulmonary congestion, weakness of the heart | Congestion of peripheral tissues |
| Retention of fluid | Fluid gets built up at the back of the lungs | Fluid gets built up in the abdomen, legs, and feet |
| Results | CHF Left leads to Pulmonary congestion which is fatal | CHF Right leads to Peripheral Oedema which is not fatal but is very concerning |
What is CHF Left?
CHF Left is a type of Congestive Heart failure in which the heart is not able to efficiently pump blood to the rest of the organs, as a result, the organs do not receive blood, and this leads to improper functioning of vital organs.
In CHF Left, the left ventricle is not able to deliver blood properly. This might be due to damage to the heart or weakness of the heart. The left ventricle is responsible for pumping blood to the lungs; thus, the condition is very chronic.
As the left ventricle does not function properly, the lungs do not receive a supply of blood. As the blood supply to the organs is hampered, the functioning of the various organs is also affected.
This particularly affects the proper functioning of the Kidneys. The kidneys are essential for the filtration of fluid in the body. As they receive less blood than usual, they are not able to filter out fluids as usual, and thus, the body begins to retain fluids.
The retention of fluid occurs particularly around the lungs, with more fluid built-up at the back of the lungs. This leads to Pulmonary Congestion, which results in breathlessness. If not treated immediately, this can be fatal.
What is CHF Right?
CHF Right is a heart condition in which the right chamber of the heart or the right ventricle is not able to pump blood properly. As a result, the supply of blood to the vital organs is hampered.
This greatly affects the functioning of the organs, such as the lungs, kidneys, liver, and so on. One of the major problems caused due to this is the failure of the kidneys.
Kidneys are essential for the filtration and removal of fluids from the body. As the blood supply to the kidneys is hampered, the kidneys begin to fail to filter out bodily fluids.
As a result, the body starts retaining fluid and excessive fluid gets built up in the abdomen and the lower part of the body, such as the legs and the feet. This leads to the swelling of these parts.
Retention of fluids in the abdomen causes abdominal bloating, which leads to problems such as nausea, anorexia, distended veins of the neck, and so on.
As the fluid builds up in the lower body parts, it particularly leads to Peripheral Oedema. This later develops into congestion of the legs and feet which could also lead to loss of functioning of the legs.
Main Differences Between CHF Left and CHF Right
- CHF Left is a heart condition where the left ventricle is not able to deliver blood properly to the other organs. In CHF Right, the right ventricle is damaged, leading to a loss of blood supply to the body.
- The symptoms of CHF Left are fatigue, restlessness, weakness, Cyanosis and so on. The symptoms of CHF Right are abdominal bloating, nausea, and swelling of legs and feet.
- The causes of CHF Left are pulmonary congestion and weakness of the heart. The causes of CHF Right are congestion of peripheral tissues.
- In CHF Left, fluid gets built up around the lungs, particularly at the back of the lungs. In CHF Right, a fluid build-up occurs in the abdomen and the lower part of the body.
- CHF Left is fatal as pulmonary congestion can lead to failure of the lungs. CHF Right is not fatal but is very concerning as it can lead to Peripheral Oedema
- https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1161/circheartfailure.109.888479
- https://www.jacc.org/doi/abs/10.1016/S0735-1097(98)00337-4
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